The sixth graders at Johnston-Montessori Elementary School in Appleton are learning about weather and the changing of the seasons.  I was glad Mrs. Pomplun and Mr. Appleton invited me to talk about some of the weather whys.  The students had some great questions including whether Appleton ever had a tornado touch down. (In 1984 a strong F4 tornado touched down in the Fox Valley and tore through part of the Outagamie County airport)  They also wanted to know about forecasting and what education is needed to be a meteorologist.  They even gave me a nice parting gift of a signed pumpkin complete with meteorological terms.  The pumpkin has a new home on the weather deck!  

It’s tour time here at FOX 11 when school groups visit and check out what it looks like behind-the scenes and how we do the weather.  The first-graders from Pioneeer Elementary in Ashwaubenon are learning about weather through the Einstein Project  and they had a lot of questions for me.  One student wanted to know how tornadoes start and another offered an opinion saying, “You look older in person.”  First-graders are a very honest bunch. 

The favorite part of  the tour is when the kids get to draw in the chroma-key wall…the green screen we use as background when we use our weather graphics.  The students did great and I may be calling them to fill in for me sometime.   

I had a great time talking about weather with the first-graders at Black Creek School last week.  I talked about how to stay safe in severe weather, how fast the winds go inside a tornado and how meteorologists forecast the weather.  Mrs. DeHart, Mr. Ohlson and Mr. Baranczyk are teaching the weather unit provided by the Einstein Project and the students already know about where to go in case a tornado is heading your way.  Thanks to the teachers for inviting me out to talk and keep studying!  

We finally received some rain over the entire area last night after getting more scattered showers in the past few weeks.  According to surface observations Green Bay received .20″; Appleton .37″; Oshkosh .39″; Shawano .47″; Manitowoc .35″; Waupaca .29″; Peshtigo 1.26″ and Antigo 1.16″.  Here’s a more complete list of the rainfall totals from the National Weather Service.

The map below has StormTrackerX estimated rainfall totals for the storm. 

Doppler-Estimated rainfall totals from StormTrackerX

Although Doppler-estimates of rainfall are sometimes not as accurate as surface observations, it does give you an indication of where the heaviest rain has fallen.  Here’s a very cool site where you can see the rainfall totals in the country and by clicking on an area you can narrow it down to the state.  Also by clicking on different “timeframes” and “products” you can see how the last 30 (or 60) day rain totals compares to normals. 

FAMILY:  My wife and I and the boys, Jake and Henry went to Rachel’s house over the weekend for a late lunch.  Had a great time and her husband is an excellent cook.  The moment of the day for me was when I looked out in the backyard and saw my 3-year-old Henry showing Bella (Rachel’s daughter) something. I yelled, “Pull your pants up Henry, Bella doesn’t want to see your underwear.”  I realize he’s proud he can go on the potty now but he has to learn to keep his pants on in public.

Hope your grass is greening up now after the rain.  Have a great day!

FORECASTING: If you think it has been cool and dry this month, you’re right.  Through July 30th the average temperature in Green Bay is 65.4° which is placing it 3rd inthe Top 5 coolest Julys in recorded weather history…a period of 120 years.  Meteorologist Doug Higgins has a look back at the highs and lows of the month. 

The Top 5 Coolest Julys in Green Bay

We all know how dry it has been by just looking at our brown lawns.  For the month Green Bay is running about a 2 inch deficit.  It will probably go down as the tenth driest July ever. 

FAMILY: We’re expecting an addition to the Petoniak family.  I announced it on the air today that my wife and I are expecting a baby girl to join Jake and Henry.   Rachel’s reaction was, “What are you thinking?” and sometimes I wonder.  Those times are when the boys are wrestling on the couch and both of their glasses are getting bent for the hundreth time while Dad is trying to remain calm and not yell like a raving maniac.  (Because I think the neighbors can hear when the windows are open in the summer)  But I’m really looking forward to having a little girl.  My wife Sarah is thrilled to find out that she won’t be as outnumbered at our house anymore.  She actually has it pretty good though…all the boys are already trained to put the seat down on the toilet.   Henry and Jake came up to the station to visit our new building yesterday with mom.  They were eating a ring pop which changes the color of lips, tongue and teeth.  Rachel felt the urge to get their picture.  It looks like Henry is trying to look at his tongue too.  Can you say, “where’s the toothbrush?” 

Henry & Jake show off multi-colored tongues

Have a great weekend!

It’s official…3 tornadoes touched down in the state on Monday from the severe weather that pushed through late in the day.  Two were in the far southwestern part of the state in Crawford County and Lafayette counties and one was in Marquette and Green Lake County.  That one was rated an EF-1 with maximum wind speeds of 95 mph. Patrick shows the path and had other details and Andrew showed the damage left behind. 

If you’ve ever wondered how the National Weather Service makes a determination about how fast the winds are in a tornado, we ran a great story on the show this morning.  It shows what a meteorologist looks for in the damage  to figure out how to rate the tornado and if in fact it even was a tornado. The one that went through Marquette and Green Lake County was rated a EF-1 which has wind speeds of 95 mph.

I got a chance to talk to members of the New Holstein High School baseball team this morning on Good Day Wisconsin.  They’re playing in the state tournament this morning and I was impressed with their spirit and character.  Good luck to the Huskies.  Win or lose they’ve had a great season!

FAMILY: Henry my 3-year-old is now going on the potty…finally! I think it’s cute when he says, “I went pee on my potty” at home but not so much when he yells it when we’re out in public.  Yes we’re very proud of the boy.  He even went #2 yesterday. Yippee.  I was afraid Henry would be wearing a diaper when he was 35 which would not be a good look for him.

Have a great day!

The National Weather Service in Milwaukee has a detailed look at the storms on radar and the storm reports. In fact word from the Milwaukee office is that they will be surveying damage in Dodge, Marquette, Iowa, Columbia and Lafayette counties to see if tornadoes touched down.  Check back tomorrow…I’ll keep you posted here.

Storm Reports in the SW of our viewing area included hail and strong winds

Although the areas that experienced the storms got quite a bit of rain, most of northeast Wisconsin was dry.  Such is the case this summer with the scattered way we’ve been having our rain.  Just this weekend in Green Bay the official total was .69″ of rain but a few miles away in Bellevue only 0.02″ of rain fell. Yesterday it was Marquette, Green Lake, Waushara and Fond du Lac counties that got a lot of rain.

1-2 inches of much-needed rain to the southwest

We didn’t get much rain overnight but there’s still a good chance for showers today.  Looking at the bright side…there will be chances for rain each of the next 6 days with the weather computer models showing Friday’s storm that drops in from the northwest will have the most promise for soaking rain.

StormTrackerX Rain Totals through early Wednesday Morning

Severe Weather is expect in a small section of the country today…parts of Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.

Storm Prediction Center issued this severe weather outlook for today

 Fried Bologna Sandwiches:  I was laughed at by Rachel and Amy the other day when I mentioned I liked fried bologna sandwiches.  Of course they admitted to never having eaten this culinary treat so I don’t think they can make a true assessment.  Judging by the e-mails I recieved, it turns out there are more of you fried bologna lovers out there.  Jess & Pat write: “Hi Pete,  Just to let you know there are a lot of us secret fried bologna sandwich eaters. We don’t tell everyone about this….due to the laughter you had to endure today. I’m 67 years old and have been enjoying my fried bologna sandwiches all my life. The naysayers don’t know what their missing! ” Donna wrote:  “Just to let you know you are not the only one with good taste! I love fried balogna sandwiches and my favorite candy bar is CHUNKY!  I have been eating them since they were a nickle! I am 58yrs. ..forever watching” …  Now these are people with obvious good taste if you ask me. How about you?  Do you like fried bologna? Maybe we can get Amy to make some on “Living With Amy”

I hope you had a great weekend.  I did a lot of work outside around the house…took out a few overgrown bushes and a couple of small trees too.  Had a bee hover around my head for what seemed like an hour but was just a few minutes.  Tried to get away but had to cover my head with my t-shirt and run into the street before it left.  Gave my wife a laugh.  I got a chance to watch the British Open too.  Did you groan as loud as I did when Tom Watson missed that 8-footer; sooooo close and yet.

We may finally get some relief from the dry conditions and brown grass we have here in NE Wisconsin.  According to the latest drought information, most of the area is “abnormally dry” and the next step would be “moderate drought” …the northwestern part of the state is already experiencing “severe drought” conditions.  Click here for more on Wisconsin drought conditions.  The first chance we have of getting some rain will be tomorrow and into Wednesday.

Rain will be moving in from the west tomorrow night

Temperatures will still be below normal for most of the week but nothing like we had at the end of last week.  Many area cities set records Friday for the lowest maximum temperature of the day.

Record Low Maximums were achieved and tied in many area cities

Have a great day!

We’re 20° below our normal high for today in Green Bay and NE WI. This will probably be a record-breaking day for many cities in the area for the lowest maximum temperatures.  The current record in Green Bay is 66° set in 1924; in Appleton it’s 70° last set in 1939 and in Oshkosh the record is 65° set in 1939.  For other cities check the map below. 

These records may fall today

These cool conditions are the result of an upper level low pressure area spinning to the north which is feeding in clouds and cool air.  Eventually the system will move to the east but we can expect another cool day Saturday before sunshin on Sunday.

Stubborn System keeps us cloudy and cool

When you look back at the year as a whole, we have actually been quite cool.  Taking it month by month shows that temperatures were above average only in the month of February.  See more here

Have a great weekend and I’ll talk to you Monday!