It has been a very wet start to the month of June. Over 2 inches of rain have fallen already in Green Bay. That is well above average for this time of the month. Usually we will see around 3.5 inches for the entire month, but right now we are on pace to receive over 6 inches.

The most rain in June has fallen across the central portion of the state, with lower amounts to the north and south. Below is a map which displays rainfall totals across Wisconsin.

But while, the amount of rain we have received this June is well above average, it doesn’t compare to what was witnessed a year ago. In June of 2008, heavy rains dominated areas from central Wisconsin and to the south. In fact, some locations received over 12 inches of rain in just the first 12 days of the month. Below is a map which displays this information.

One of the towns that was hit hardest by the flooding was Gays Mills in the southwestern portion of the state. The village is home to just over 600 people and took on extreme flooding for the second time in less than a year. The flooding has been so costly that in April of this year, the town has decided to move to the north side of the village. Gays Mills is currently located along the Kickapoo River, which is a big part of the reason for the town flooding.

Until Next Time,

Meteorologist Andrew Thut

Throughout my career as a meteorologist , June 7th always seems to stand out. In 2007, a tornado tracked across the counties of Oconto, Langlade and Menominee.  The tornado was on the ground for at least 40 miles, and was over 1/2 mile wide at times.  Over 14000 acres of trees were snapped or flattened and many dozens of buildings were damaged or destroyed.  The twister was rated an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, with estimated winds of 140 to 160 mph.   Damage by this tornado alone exceeded $15 million. The damage caused by the tornado is still evident today and can even be seen from space.

For more information visit the National Weather Service site devoted to the tornado. Copy and paste the following link into your browser:

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=94657000377&h=8yZJS&u=Pr5PG&ref=nf

Last year, 2008, it wasn’t a tornado but heavy rainfall that led to extreme flooding in parts of the state. Rain on June 7th and 8th specifically, contributed to significant flooding in early June.

For more information on the event visit the National Weather Service. Copy and paste the following link into your browser:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/?n=jun08_flooding

This year, 2009, there was no severe weather on June 7th, but temperatures were well below average. In fact, Sunday’s high only reached 54° that is the coolest high temperature on record for June 7th. Wausau, Oshkosh and Rhinelander also set records.

Just for reference, 54° is the normal high on April 15th.

Until Next Time,

Meteorologist Andrew Thut

When you sign a document, you probably use one pen. When the president signs a piece of legislation, he seems to go through a fistful of them, making his mark with each one.
What exactly is he doing with all those pens? And where do they end up after the signing ceremony is over?
Curiosity about presidential pens inspired one of the questions in this edition of “Ask AP,” a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.
If you have your own news-related question that you’d like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.
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How do airplanes’ black boxes (which are in fact orange, I believe) work? Reading about the very sad and tragic Air France accident, I read that the “black boxes emit signals for up to 30 days.” Is this a built-in feature to assist with the search process?
Adriana Diesen
Houston
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“Black boxes” – or, more precisely, the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder – came into general use in civil aviation during the 1950s.

They have evolved over the years and today’s generation are highly sophisticated digital devices able to withstand intensely high temperatures – and, in the world’s deepest oceans, crushing water pressures. They are housed in extremely strong metal boxes designed to be resistant to all but the most violent impacts.
All passenger airliners and many military transports now carry them.
The flight data recorder monitors dozens of flight parameters and the crew’s control inputs, thus helping accident investigators figure out the sequence of events that may have led to a crash or other incident.
Investigators also use cockpit voice recordings to figure out what the crew was doing or intending to do to deal with the situation.
The recorders, which can be housed in a single box or two separate ones, are equipped with transmitters that start pinging when submerged, in order to make it easier for searchers to locate them underwater.
Some military aircraft already carry secondary flight recorders, usually mounted on the rear of the airframe, that are detachable and come off during a crash at sea. They remain afloat on the surface where searchers can hone in on the signals they emit. There are plans to put these on civilian airliners in the future.
Slobodan Lekic
Associated Press Writer
Brussels
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Whenever presidents sign legislation, they always have a tray full of pens, and then they’ll put part of their name with one pen and put it down, then use another pen, and another, etc. Is there any way you can find out what kind of pens those are, what they cost and who gets them?
Bill Elzer
Ottawa, Ill.
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When the president signs legislation, he writes each letter of his name with a separate pen. He then gives the pen to someone involved in the measure. For instance, President Barack Obama gave one of the pens he used to sign national service legislation to Sen. Edward Kennedy, for whom the bill was named. Obama also gave a pen to Lilly Ledbetter, the Alabama woman whose lawsuit against Goodyear sparked a pay equity act in Congress.
The White House says Obama uses various styles of Cross brand pens to sign legislation. Similar pens are sold to the public, starting at $50.
Philip Elliott
Associated Press Writer
Washington
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In Europe, they are still disposing of explosives from World War II. Is this an issue in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are land mines being used in this region?
Stephan Vertal
Forest Grove, Ore.
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Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. An average of 60 Afghans are killed or wounded every month by mines, mostly remnants from the 1980s, when the Soviet army battled mujahadeen fighters across the country. There’s no evidence of any new minefields since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban regime in 2001.
Since the Iraq war is not a conventional war with front lines to defend, none of the combatants planted minefields. However, many mines remain along Iraq’s sparsely populated border with Iran from the 1980-88 war between those two countries.
Chris Chester
AP War Editor
New York
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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

Subtitle: Why do men and women seem to suffer the flu differently?

My family got the flu this week. Bella woke up at 2:30. Sick. 3 times. All over her pajamas. And OUR bed that she had crawled into an hour earlier.

Got her all cleaned up. Re-made the bed. And then my alarm went off. Ugh. Of course all of this woke the baby.

So I shower and go off to work. On the way.. And it only takes me 7 minutes to get there.. My phone rings. It’s my husband. The baby had just “gotten sick” all over him.

Poor baby. Poor hubby.

Work was understanding. They let me go home and Angela filled in for me. I held the baby all day. She didn’t know what was happening to her. And that leads me to the POINT of this blog. People handle sickness differently. I think Zoe is going to be like me. Avoid getting sick at all costs. I have an IRON stomach. And when it fails — use mind over matter so nothing comes up. We just don’t like that whole stomach ick.

Bella is more like her dad. She’s a champ. She lets it out when it needs to get out. (I’m trying to avoid the words in case you’re eating your breakfast while reading this)

Now let’s talk about my husband. He wasn’t too bad this time. Perhaps it was because we had joked about it two days earlier. But he has a tendency to MOAN the entire time he is sick. LOUDLY. I find it to be very annoying and I don’t know why I can’t be more MOTHERLY to him like I am to the children. They can throw up all over me and I don’t mind (that much). But he moans and asks for aspirin and it’s a little annoying to me. Is it because he’s the man?  And I want him to take it like a man??

I on the other hand, and others may disagree, suffer the flu in silence. I’m moaning on the inside. To myself.

I’ve talked to my girlfriends about this. Lot of them say the same thing. Their husbands turn into needy babies when they get sick. Why is that???

I thought I had missed getting bitten by this flu bug but as I write this things are just not right inside.  I just hope my husband doesn’t read this until AFTER he runs out for meds, gatorade, etc.

Are you kidding me, another cool week is ahead. With the exception of tomorrow, June 5th, every day out of the next seven will be below average. The average high for this time of year is 74°, and rightly so, this is the month of June right?

While temperatures in the 60s are nice and very comfortable, it doesn’t exactly scream summer. These aren’t temperatures that are preferred for swimming or boating. It is even a bit cool for camping. This morning’s low (June 4th) was 39°. I had the opportunity to get up to Peninsula State Park earlier this week, and there were plenty of open campsites; something that might not be the case with seasonable temperatures.

Since the first of March, the average temperatures for Green Bay has been cooler than what we would expect. That is quite a stretch with below average temperatures, and I think it is fair to say that we are due for a warm up.

Statistically speaking, from June 1st to the last day of August we will see an average of 56 days with a temperature of 80° or warmer. On 7 days, the mercury will climb into the 90s.

Since the year 2000, the general trend is that there will be few days in the 90s, or a lot of days in the 90s. As you can see below, the only year close to average is 2007, with 8 days in the 90s.

Days in the 90s
2008: 1
2007: 8
2006: 12
2005: 15
2004: 0
2003: 0
2002: 15
2001: 14
2000: 1

So what can we expect this summer? According to the Climate Prediction Center, the northern Plains and Minnesota will see a cool summer. I would not be surprised if Northeast Wisconsin fell into this category as well. Meanwhile, the West, Deep South and the East Coast are expected to see warmer temperatures than normal.

Until Next Time,

Meteorologist Andrew Thut

   The Packers had their OTA today on Clarke Hinkle Field, and here is a running diary of some of what went on.  Conditions: Sunny, but breezy and chilly.

11:15 am- WR Donald Driver is here!  He’s decided to make an appearance after last week getting thrown about the media with possible contract renegotiation demands.  Seemed to be healthy, and made some nice catches.

11:20- C Scott Wells is in a t-shirt and isn’t practicing.  He is going to have a tough time keeping his starting job this year, I think.  Jason Spitz has looked sharp at center, and with the talent they are bringing back on the offensive line, Wells could be the odd man out when all is said and done.  Needs to get healthy first, however.

11:30- K Mason Crosby gives a wave as I walk by.  Kickers are interesting people.  They are very serious about their craft, but not as serious about their job.   They (kickers) are the butt of a lot of camp jokes, but the get that, and are ok with it.  I don’t know if the other players consider them “football” players as they stretch and kneel on the other side of the field, but Mason is as good as they come.

11:35- A fan drives down Holmgren and honks his horn the ENTIRE length of the field, all the way to the end.  Players don’t even look up.  Impressive honking dedication, however.

11:37- A bus of school kids comes by, with kids hanging out the window screaming for the Packers.  I mean, no where else in the country would have a scene like this, right?

11:40- If you haven’t had a chance to get down to the open OTA, you have missed a very impressive afro by Nick Barnett.  I don’t think he has cut his hair since his knee injury.  He isn’t practicing, but I wonder if his helmet size has increased, he has so much hair…

11:45- Just tweeted from camp.  Ain’t technology grand?  If you haven’t signed up to follow us on Twitter, do it!  Search “fox11sports” to find us.

11:48- OL Josh Sitton just stopped past to get a drink, and I can see what he has been working on in the off-season: A ‘fro of his own!  I think with Mark Tauscher out of the picture, Sitton and Alan Barbre are competing for “most unruly head and face of hair” in camp.

11:50- Ball security drills.  Cool new one for the offensive line: a bunch of blocking pads are piled up with a ball beneath them.  It’s a fumble recovery drill, and at the whistle the big O-lineman dives into the pads to find the football.  I find myself thinking this would be a fun game for my 5-year-old’s birthday party next week.

11:55- Have a nice conversation with former NFL, AFL QB and Sturgeon Bay grad Chris Greisen about his career.  Our daughters were in pre-school together.  He is going to try out for the new UFL, which has their draft later this month.  Just four teams, with a six week schedule, then a championship game, playing between September and November.  He’s hoping to be able to hook on.  He says they pay pretty well:  $30-200 thousand for just six games= not bad.  Best of luck to him!

12:00- The noon whistle blows, and RB Deshawn Wynn fumbles a kick off return.  I don’t think the two were related.

12:05- Special teams session going on, and ST coach Shawn Slocum isn’t happy with the preparation of the players.   Justin Harrell is urged to please take a gander at the playbook a little more often, though not in those exact words.  This is a family friendly blog, after all.

12:12- Individual drills are starting, and I’m watching the RB’s.  New FB Quinn Johnson (5^th round pick) seems to be the guy they pick on, since he’s the only rookie.  First, Edgar Bennett gets him to jump off-sides, which gives everyone a chuckle, then hitting the sled, he gets in trouble for pin-wheeling his arms before laying into it, provoking chants of “He’s winding up!” from the rest of the players.  Johnson has to do the drill again! 

         I also have to remark that Ryan Grant looks considerably thinner as opposed to the end of the season.  Don’t know if that is on purpose, or just an off-season weight.

12:20- Checking out the Offensive Line drills.  Sitton is a very technically sound lineman, in the drills, at least.  He gets praise from the coaches, and I think will start at the right guard spot this year, if Spitz plays center.   New lineman TJ Lang (3^rd rounder) gets some good encouragement from coach James Campen.

12:26- New defensive line coach Mike Trgovac is very hands on, literally.  He just grabbed new tackle BJ Raji (1^st rounder) by the shirt, moving him around to show him what he wanted.  And BJ is not little.

12:47- WR Jordy Nelson has made some very nice catches this session- will he become a bigger part of the team this year?  This is his time if he wants to step it up.  I don’t know if James Jones is as secure as some think, especially if Jordy can string together some good practices.

12:55- OLB (!) Aaron Kampman just looks a little weird playing in an up stance.  But he just knocked away a pass, and OLB coach Kevin Greene went nuts!  I think it is going to be fun to see Kevin Greene on the sidelines this year.   He has said he doesn’t remember much of his NFL career (“I’ve had a lot of concussions,” he told me a couple of months ago.), but he has the passion, that’s for sure.

12:58- C Jason Spitz just threw a cut block on BJ Raji, who jumped up to complain, but realized no one was going to listen to him.  Welcome to the league, rook!

1:10- Last play of the OTA, S Aaron Rouse gets the pick of QB Brian Brohm.  Back-up QB’s didn’t have a great day.  But hey- that’s what practice is for!