I want to extend a sincere ‘Thank You’ to everyone who submitted a photo, email, or other tidbit of information regarding the recent flooding across northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.  Your help has contributed to the better understanding of the effects of flooding along area rivers and creeks. Our thoughts are with those of you affected by the floods.

Aerial photographer Bryan Hunt took a tour of the Rock River on Saturday afternoon in Winnebago County. A big thanks goes out to Bryan for capturing these jaw-dropping images of the flooding. I added a few geographical points of reference to the photos so we know exactly what we are seeing and where we are looking. -Joe

Posted under flooding, photos

Parts of New England got more than two feet of snow this past weekend. One person in Connecticut decided to roll the camera on the entire storm. Check it out!

Posted under news, photos, weather geek, winter storm

Ice and sleet accumulation across northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin on Sunday cause quite a mess on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks.  Accumulations ranged from a light glaze to nearly 0.25″ in spots.  Here’s a few pictures sent in from around the area. -Joe

Posted under ice, photos, winter weather

With dry weather expected this weekend across Northern Illinois and Wisconsin, this would be a perfect weekend to make plans to do a little leaf-peeping! (If you can deal with the near $4/gallon gas). Areas in far Northwestern Wisconsin are seeing peak color right now with even a few spots up near Duluth and Superior slightly past peak.

Areas from La Crosse, Eau Claire, down to the Wisconsin Dells, and then up toward Leaf River are nearing peak this weekend with some brilliant yellows and oranges showing up in Southern Wisconsin.

As always, we’re looking for your great photos to add to our HotShot Album. If you would like to be added to our album, be sure to send us your photos to weather@wrex.com or upload them to the 13 Weather Authority Facebook page. -Eric

Posted under photos, weather, wildlife

Dom Castaldo sent me this picture of tomatoes he grew that rotted right on the vine. I’m no gardener but I immediately thought the tomatoes were watered too much. However, he writes “The fluctuation in water [due to drought] interferes with calcium metabolism which causes the end of the tomato to degrade.”

A Cornell University article mirrors what Dom said. It says “the disease is especially prevalent when rapidly growing, succulent plants are exposed suddenly to a period of drought. When the roots fail to obtain sufficient water and calcium to be transported up to the rapidly developing fruits, the latter become rotted on their basal ends.” This not only can happen to tomato plants during drought, but also in tomatoes planted in cold, heavy soils.

The article (and Dom) suggest using fertilizers low in nitrogen and spraying the plants with calcium chloride to combat that terrible Tomato Blossom Rot this season!

Do you have a drought-related story to share? We’d like to hear from you! Send us an e-mail at weather@wrex.com and tell us what you’re seeing. -ES

Posted under drought, going green, news, photos, science

Here’s a few photos sent in by WREX viewers from this morning’s severe thunderstorms.  -JA

Posted under photos, severe weather