This March will wrap up on Sunday, and it has been a fairly cloudy one. In comparision to last year, we have seen a fairly similar number of clear days. However, this March we have seen more cloudy days than partly cloudy days meaning that there were 15 March days in which we saw very little or actually no sunshine at all. Enjoy the sunny Friday and let’s hope April brings us many showers and sunny days! -Greg

Posted under statistics, sunlight, weather

It has been a fairly gloomy and overcast March, but the end of this week might be just what you need to help lighten the mood. As temperatures slowly climb toward 50 degrees on Saturday, we will see a return to bright sunshine both Thursday and Friday. We have high pressure to thank for that. An area of high pressure will settle over us late week and will keep cloud cover out of the forecast until Saturday. -Greg

Posted under sunlight, weather

It’s that time of the year when our amount of daylight is slowly increasing, but it is sometimes hard to notice thanks to the cold weather. So on this cold and dreary day, here is a ray of sunshine for you.. quite literally. Tonight the sun sets at 7:00pm for the first time since September 18, 2012 and it won’t set before 7:00pm again until September 20th of this year. If that still isn’t enough to warm you up then maybe this is. Our average high temperature by the end of this month will have us at 54°! -Greg

Posted under sunlight, weather

It’s that time of year again.  Daylight Saving Time begins at 2am.  At that time, we ‘Spring Forward’ and set our clocks ahead one hour.  So, 2am becomes 3am.  In 2013, Daylight Saving Time runs from March 10th through November 3rd.  Sunrise will occur at 7:16am and sunset will occur at 6:57pm in Rockford on Sunday.  Looking ahead to the end of March, we will gain an additional hour of daylight thanks to the Earth’s tilt and revolution around the Sun. -Joe

Posted under news, sunlight

Check out this amazing NASA video of a solar flare that occurred in July 2012. Accompanying the flare was a phenomenon known as coronal rain. Coronal rain is actually hot plasma, which cools and condenses in the strong magnetic fields produced by solar flares. The plasma is eventually pulled back toward the surface of the sun. The magnetic fields help create a visual illusion that allows the plasma to appear in patterns similar to rain, fountains, or even fireworks. -Joe

Posted under science, space, sunlight, weather geek

One of the snowiest Februarys in history is now in the rear view mirror and we turn out attention to a new month, March. The month that is typically rumored to begin either calm or active, and end the opposite. Looking at the beginning of this month, there is little to no chance for any significant rain or snow in the forecast through the next two weeks. This could lead one to believe that March is coming in like a lamb. However, it is also going to be very chilly with well below average temperatures. So if the cold is more lion-esque to you than snow, you might beg to argue that this March is coming in growling. Either way, by the end of the month we will see our average high temperature jump to 54° and our sunset at 7:20pm. Hopefully Winter is on its last legs! -Greg

Posted under First Look, statistics, sunlight

Persistent clouds are the reason temperatures struggled to get to 30 degrees today. Clouds have a huge influence on our daily temperatures this time of year. Their presence could make the difference between a 45 and 30 degree day! We’re going to talk degrees for a moment, but not the typical degrees…degrees above the horizon. 90° is straight above you and on the winter solstice (December 21st), the highest the sun was in the sky was only 24.3° above the horizon. As the season progresses, the sun’s elevation rises. Today, the sun’s angle was 34.2° and in one month it will raise to 44.7°. The more direct the sunlight, the warmer our temperatures will be. That’s the reason we will go from winter to spring in just a little over a month.

So, what was going on today with all the clouds?

During the winter, the low sun angle forces the sun’s rays to spread out, weakening them. If there’s a cloud deck around, these weaker rays take longer to break up the clouds. This is exactly why we had a stratus deck today, which can be directly related to our temperatures. Having these clouds blocked the sun from heating the surface, keeping things cool.

Unfortunately, the low sun angle is here to stay for a while and clouds will linger throughout the week!

*An earlier version of this blog post incorrectly stated the sun altitude angles.  The data has since been corrected.

Posted under 13 Climate Authority, science, statistics, sunlight, weather, weather geek

We slowly inch closer and closer to the start of spring which is just over 5 weeks away! We have hit a milestone in terms of our increase in daylight. Today marks the first time since November 25, 2012 that the sun has risen before 7:00am. Today we will see 10hrs and 26mins of daylight. By March 20th (the first day of spring) we will gain over and hour and a half of daylight pushing our total to 12hr and 9min.  -Greg

Posted under statistics, sunlight

Even though the winter months produce more cloudy days than the summertime months, we can look forward to a few more minutes of daylight over the next few weeks!

The shortest day of the year was December 21st. Since then, we’ve gained a minute of daylight. And while the difference may not be noticeable in the coming weeks, look at the difference between the amount of sunlight 4 weeks from now versus 8 weeks from now. On February 26th, we will have 11 hours and 4 minutes of daylight! -Eric

Posted under sunlight

Sunday will be another major travel day and luckily, very few issues will arise (in regards to weather).  Locally, we can expect filtered sunshine with highs in the upper 20s.

The majority of the Midwest will remain dry through Christmas Eve.  The only exception is the Ohio Valley late Sunday into Monday.  A low pressure system will quickly move through that area and bring rain showers to parts of southern Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio (and the southeastern United States).  Snow showers will be likely Monday in northern Indiana, northern Ohio, and much of the eastern Great Lakes.  A quick snowflake or two will be possible across northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin on Christmas Eve as well, but the chance is very slight (20%).

Nationally, the Pacific Northwest will deal with some rainy and breezy conditions from near San Francisco north to Seattle.  Snow showers will be on and off throughout the Intermountain West.  On the opposite side of the country, a few lingering snow showers will exit New England late Sunday.  All in all, airports and train stations will be weather-worry-free through Christmas Eve.

If you like warm weather, and you’re headed to Florida or Texas for Christmas, you’re in luck!  Temperatures will be in the 60s and 70s for many areas of those states.  Mild air will also be in place over the Desert Southwest. Up north, the Northern Plains, Minnesota, and areas to the east through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan will be a bit colder than normal.

Have safe travels!

-Joe

Posted under aviation, rain, safety, snow, sunlight, travel, weather, Wind, winter weather