We want to thank all of our loyal 13 Weather Authority Facebook fans!  And we want to welcome all of our new fans!  Unfortunately, we only have one prize package to give away at this time.  But, we’ll have more to come in the future!

The winner of four tickets to Magic Waters, four tickets to Klehm Arboretum, and a $20 gift card to Capone’s Eatery is Brittany Luke Strohecker from Pearl City, Illinois.  Congratulations!!!!

Posted under event, Uncategorized

Temperatures tonight and tomorrow night will have the chances to fall below freezing for some areas causing frost to form.  The unseasonable temperatures of March allowed many of the outdoor flowers and plants to sprout or have already bloomed.  With temperatures falling into the lower and mid 30s the next couple of nights, preventing frost from hurting your plants would be a good measure to take.  The best and easy way to protect your plants is by covering them with something lightweight.  Great examples would be newspaper, cardboard boxes with a few small holes, or a bed sheet.  All three will protect the plant by keeping the warmer/moister air around the plant to prevent frost from forming.  You will want to cover them before dusk and uncover them by morning.

Posted under Uncategorized, weather, weather geek

Whatever you are growing in your backyard and however you are growing it, I want to see! Whether flowers grown for beauty, or veggies for canning, send pictures of your garden and why it is unique to Weather@wrex.com. I will feature area gardens within the next few days.

-Aaron

Posted under Uncategorized

Although wind turbines can be a great way to move beyond fossil and nuclear fuels, they occasionally fail. The video here shows a wind turbine in Denmark that had a catastrophic brake failure. As you can see, the turbine spins out of control in a brisk wind and eventually explodes!

While types of disasters like this are very rare, opponents to wind farms argue that they endanger wildlife and ruin the landscape. What do you think? Are wind turbines a good way to produce clean energy or are they more trouble than their worth lends?

Posted under Uncategorized, weather geek

It is that time of year where we run around our homes and changes all of our clocks ahead one hour. Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday morning at 2 a.m. We do this in hopes of saving energy, because why turn on a light when Mother Nature supplies light longer into the evening hours. Benjamin Franklin thought of the idea of changing times for energy conservation. He wrote an essay titled “An Economical Project of Diminishing the Cost of Light.” Unfortunately, the idea never passed until about 100 years later. The railroads industry introduced a standardized time for their train schedules. The changing of the clocks started nationally during World War I to save energy and then it was stopped after the war was over. However, it started up again during World War II and then in 1966 Congress passed the Uniform Time Act.

Posted under news, Uncategorized

A very cool phenomenon occurred this past week in the Cook Inlet in Girdwood, Alaska that would be any surfer’s dream come true. A tidal bore can happen only in a few places around the world and the Cook Inlet is one, however the conditions have to right. This kind of phenomenon happens when the front edge of the incoming tide forms a wave or sometimes several waves that travel in the opposite direction of the river’s current. Surfers or standup paddlers absolutely love them because it allows them to ride for a long time instead of just seconds.   A group of standup paddlers got to experience one and brought cameras along so all can enjoy this rare wave!  Watch here: Tidal Bore

Posted under science, Uncategorized

If you are mystified by blinking lights synchronized to holiday music (I know that I am), you may consider taking a trip to one house in Rockton that specializes in just that. In this video is the home of Mike and April Kunzelman. Each year, they take a few days to bring out this spectacular lighting display. With tonight’s light snowfall, the home display will look brilliant off of the fresh snowpack. If you would like to see this for yourself, the display is located at 13343 Wynstone Way in Rockton.

Some facts about this year’s display:

- Over 15,000 bulbs, many of which are the new energy efficient LED lights

- 220 different lighting channels are used

-a desktop computer is utilized to control all of the lights and utilizes the same technology used in large concert venues

- The couple will run the display until New Year’s weekend from 5pm to 11pm.

Posted under Uncategorized

Hello fellow WeatherBloggers,

As many of you have let us know, we are experiencing an issue with the comments feature of the blog. We recently implemented a new program that will help control spam, and keep things friendly and weather related. As is common with new code in every aspect of the computer world, sometimes initial issues are discovered only after they are rolled into use. We are working right now to fix the ability to post comments as soon as possible to get you all back to contributing!

-Aaron Brackett

Posted under Uncategorized

As our loyal 13 Weather Authority fans, you get an inside tip this morning…

The first 100 people to find me at American TV on State St. will have a chance to win a BIG prize!

-Aaron

Posted under Uncategorized

Our morning “Good to Know” city is Polo, Illinois. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.3 square miles. The Polo Public Library is one of several Carnegie Libraries on the National register of Historic Places. The library was established in 1871 as an association, which charged a membership fee and was transferred to the town under the new name of Buffalo Township Free Public Library in 1891.

Posted under news, Uncategorized