If you watched the Fox 28 Morning Show on November 4th, I talked about virga. Some people thought I was talking about Viagra, but I wasn’t. Steve did clarify that viagra is what keeps the sun up. HA!

So just what is virga? You’ve probably seen and never realized what it was. Basically, virga is rain that is falling from the clouds and evaporating before it hits the ground. Rain is falling into very dry air and, without getting into too much science, evaporated to try and make up for the lack of moisture in the air.

It’s common to see virga in the southern U.S. and desert areas. It can also happen in the plains states.

Here are some pictures of what virga looks like. Enjoy!

If you ever see something cool happening in the weather, please email me the pictures. I will try to get them on the air and will definitely get them on Ken’s Korner. kgarcia@fox28.com.

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Over the past weekend, the New England states got hit by a Nor’easter. The word, as you can likely figure out, is a combination of the words north and east. If you watched the Patriots-Titans game on Sunday, you saw quite a bit of snow falling. Nor’easters can bring a lot of rain or snow (depending on temperatures…but since they tend to happen during the cold months it’s snow), strong winds, and cold temperatures. It gets the name “Nor’easter” because of the counter clockwise rotation. In other words, the winds come from the northeast (this is the area that gets the snow and cold weather).

So what is a Nor’easter? Basically it’s a low pressure system that sets up residence just off the coast of New England. They can form further south, but the “classic” Nor’easters happen north. The systems tend to form in the south in the Gulf of Mexico and then move up along the east coast. While it’s in the gulf, it picks up a lot of moisture which it holds onto as it moves north.

Example of rotation.

Once it gets far enough north, it maintains it’s moisture thanks to the Gulf Stream. The Gulf stream is a current of warm water that flows from southern Florida to the north Atlantic. Since low pressure systems spin counter clockwise, the moist and warm air from the gulf stream is sent to the coast. The system also brings in cold air from northern Canada to mix with the moist air coming in. When those two things mix…BOOM…snow. Lots of snow. It’s a similar concept to the lake effect we feel here in Michiana. The main differences are the fact the snow from a Nor’easter is much more wide spread and the winds make for blizzard like conditions.

Nor’easter Blizzard of 1978.

There is a lot more to these system, but I have given you the very basic info on them. I know we will never get a Nor’easter here in Michiana, but I thought I would pass along a little info on what is going on. I’m sure there will be more as we move further into the cold season.

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It was bound to happen, and it finally did as snow fell on parts of Michiana on October 15. It wasn’t a lot of snow, thank goodness. Officially it’s being calculated as a trace at the South Bend Airport. Believe it or not, that’s a record amount of snow for the day. Usually the first measurable amount of snow doesn’t start falling around here until the 23rd.

This little bit of snow, and the recent bout of cold weather, is a reminder that Old Man Winter isn’t too far off. Based on the cool summer we had and the current cool October, some might come to the conclusion the winter is going to be a rough one. What if I told you it may be the opposite case?

On October 15th, the Climate Prediction Center released their forecast for the upcoming winter season. For Michiana, it looks like we will have a “normal” winter as far as temperatures are concerned. With that said, Michiana could end up with slightly warmer or colder temperatures when all is said and done. We will also have our share of very cold weather outbreaks. As for snow and rain, it looks like it will be drier than “normal”. The main drive for this forecast is El Nino.

El Nino is expected to continue, and even strengthen in the Pacific through the winter season. For a refresher, El Nino is when the currents in the Pacific are altered and warmer water is pushed closer to South America. When this happens, it influences the weather here in the North America.

One thing I know will happen… there will be cold temperatures and there will be snow. Sorry.

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Several days ago, we celebrated Labor Day. It’s a holiday designed to honor the American workforce and of course enjoy that last big bar b Que. It also means the end of summer vacation for kids and the unofficial end to summer.

It doesn’t seem fair that summer has to end once Labor Day passes. The actual season still has two more weeks until the fall equinox. Temperatures don’t automatically drop to fall averages. This year, temperatures were very close to 80 right after Labor Day. Normally I would head to the pool to cool off, but no luck. The pool at my apartment complex closed the day after Labor Day. But, that’s the way it is when you live up north. That let down is one thing I’ve had a hard time adjusting to (the other being snow).

I personally think pools should stay open until it gets too cool.  Sometimes on those warm weekends in September I look at the pool and think, “I would love to do a cannon ball into that water right now”. But the deck remains empty, the gate remains locked tighter than Fort Knox and the water stays calm.

I know one of the reasons for the early closing time is to prepare pools for the winter, but really cold weather tends to not get here until October. I can’t imagine it takes that long to get a pool winter ready.

I won’t even bother going into the Halloween candy and costumes I saw in the stores. Oh, and I did see some Thanksgiving and even some Christmas decorations. The post Labor Day transition to fall and winter happens way too fast.

I am not completely negative on this transition. I enjoy the fall colors and the hints of cool weather to come. But the main thing is the return of football. I am a big college football fan and I look forward to the start of the season and the opportunity watch to my Florida Gators!

No matter how you feel about the post Labor Day time, just remember this… Only eight months until Memorial day and the unofficial start to summer.

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The numbers are in and as to be expected the summer season turned out to bee a cool one. Yes, we are still in summer until September 22, but meteorological summer ended on August 3st. Meteorological summer is June 1st through August 31st.

So how did we do? Well, the average high for the three months was 78.3. That’s 2.7 degrees below the normal of 81. As for the average low, it turned out to be fairly close to average. The three month stretch had an average low of 59.4. That’s .6 degrees below average.

As for the average daily temperature (that’s a combination of all high and lows), it turned out to be 68.8. As to be expected, that’s 2.2 degrees below the average. This is the ninth coolest summer on record for South Bend.

As for rain, South Bend got more than what usually falls. The three months received 16.48 inches. That’s 4.58 inches above average.

Hopefully the fall will be “normal”!

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If you follow the news at all, you’ve probably heard about the major wildfire that’s burning near Athens, Greece. The 90 fires have burned over 30,000 acres and is the worst disaster since 2007. Nearly 20,000 residents of an Athens suburb are out of their homes due to this fire. As I write this, crews continue to fight, but winds are not being much help. The cause is unknown.

The weather conditions there in Greece, this time of year, are usually hot and dry. It’s known as a Mediterranean climate (makes sense since the Mediterranean is right there) with wet winters and dry summers. This same climate is felt in southern California. Just like in Greece, wildfires tend to flare up in California (and much of the Western U.S.) in the summer.

The fires feed on the dry land with winds helping move the flames. This is why these fire grow so fast and are very hard to contain.

What causes this dry weather during summer? Well, it’s a combination of several things but the main ones are ocean currents and the circulation in the atmosphere. When it comes to the atmosphere, there is what’s known as Subtropical High Pressure. These are present across the globe, but the one that influences Greece is centered just off the coast of northern Africa. It’s known as the Azores High. This system migrates with the changing of the seasons and during the summer it moves north and areas under its influence tend to have dry conditions. California is influenced by the Pacific High.

There is also ocean currents. Just off the northwestern coast of Africa, there is a current of colder water known as the Canary Current. The reason this causes dry weather is because that cold water prevents upward movement of the air which is what eventually leads to rain. A cold current off the coast of California known as the California Current does the same thing there.

If you’re wondering about Michiana, our climate is generally wet all year with hot summers and cold winters. Believe it or not, but that same high that keeps Greece dry in the summer actually helps keep us wet. It helps direct moisture from the ocean our way. It all works together!

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While not much is going on across Michiana, the topics are suddenly quite active. There are currently three named storms in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Claudette is currently the closest storm to the U.S. The system formed over the weekend and looks to be heading for the Florida panhandle. As I write this on Sunday afternoon, winds are 50 mph and will hit the coast overnight.

The other two system are way out in the middle of the Atlantic. The first named storm of the season, Ana, is moving toward the Leeward Islands. This storm has winds of 40mph. Of course, that can and will change over the next several days.

The next, and potentially future large storm, is Tropical Storm Bill. As of Sunday afternoon, Bill had sustained winds of 60 mph. It will become a hurricane when winds hit 74 mph. Forecasters think Bill could become a strong category three hurricane in the next several days. A category three has winds between 111-130. Its anticipated path has it going north of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico, then possibly heading for the U.S. Of course, that is still many days away and tropical systems always change their path.

Usually the peak time for the hurricane season is August and September. This is when the water in the tropics is at its warmest. Hurricanes can only form over water that’s 80 degrees or warmer.

For 2009, the hurricane season hasn’t really made a lot of headlines. That’s because of El Nino in the Pacific. El Nino is a warm weather patter in the Pacific. This pattern inhibits tropical formation in the Atlantic due to strong upper level winds. These winds blow away the tops of developing storms which would turn into hurricanes.  When the season started, forecasters predicted 14 named storms with seven reaching hurricane strength. In August, that was reduced to 7 to 11 named storms with 3 to 6 hurricanes.

The hurricane season ends November 30th, so keep watching the tropics.

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A big congratulations goes out to South Bend for setting a record during the month of July 2009. It turned out to be the coolest one since records started being kept in 1893.

When all of the day time highs were added together and all of the lows were added, an average of 68.3 was reached. This beats the previous record set back in 1996 when the monthly average was 68.5.

So what caused all of this? According to the National Weather Service cold Canadian air and above normal clouds cover helped keep temperatures low. Basically, there was a ridge of high pressure in the western U.S. which kept that side of the country warm. The east had a low. Since Low pressure systems spin counterclockwise, it pulled that cool air down from Canada.

Here are some other interesting date for July ‘09. The highest temperatures was 86 on the 15th. The last time an entre month of July only had one day at 86 was in 2000.

The coolest low was 49 on the 14th.

The average daytime high for the month was 77.9, which turns out to be a record for coolest average highs. The average low was 58.6, ranking the fifth coolest for average low temperatures.

We’re now in August and here’s hoping it will start to feel like a real summer!

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For July 18th, the record was 73 set in 2000. On Saturday (July 18th) the high was 71. Again, the difference is pretty small, but it’s a new record.

On Sunday , the high was 70. While it is well below the normal, it was not a record low high. The record for July 19th is 63 set in 1950.

As I write this, the forecast has temperatures getting back into the 80s. Hopefully we can get a real a summer soon.

With that said, I kind of enjoy this cool summer. I grew up in Florida where the summer is dominated with 90+ degree weather and high humidity. So 70s and low 80s is feeling pretty good.

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When it comes to the blog my goal is to always write something about weather, but this time I will stray slightly.

Wednesday, Lindsey and I visited Hacker’s Golf & Games in Niles for the Fox Hunt. It was so much fun! We met a lot of great people and we appreciate that so many of you took the time to come out and see us. If you want to watch video of Lindsey and me at Hackers, check out her blog.

Now to the weather stuff. During my time out at Hacker’s, some people asked me about the weather and when it was going to warm up. Some one else mentioned that it seemed like a cool summer. In truth, the summer has actually been pretty normal. The average high in June is 79.6 degrees with an average low of 58.3. When you average those two numbers, you get a monthly daily average of 69. Through June, the monthly average turned out to be 69. When you break the number down, the average daily high all month long was 78.5…or 1.1 degrees below normal.

June was able to be a normal month because of the big swings in temperatures. It started out cool, then heated up near the end.

We are now in July and so far it has been below the normal. According the National Weather service, this is the coldest start to July since records started in 1893. So far, July is 8.5 degrees below the normal of 72.3 degrees. Of course, the month just started so we will have to see what happens.

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