PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 245 PM CST TUE JAN 1 2008 ...A WET 2007 FOR LA CROSSE... TEMPERATURE PRECIPITATION MONTH HIGH LOW AVE DEPT TOTAL DEPT SNOW JAN 30.5 14.6 22.5 +6.6 0.67 -0.52 12.4 FEB 22.3 5.2 13.8 -8.9 1.87 +0.88 23.8 MAR 48.7 28.6 38.7 +4.1 3.18 +1.18 7.3 APR 58.9 36.8 47.8 -0.6 2.17 -1.21 3.5 MAY 76.2 52.4 64.3 +3.7 3.91 +0.53 0.0 JUN 81.9 60.4 71.2 +1.6 3.03 -0.97 *** JUL 86.1 62.9 74.5 +0.5 3.54 -0.71 *** AUG 81.1 63.4 72.3 +0.7 13.75 +9.47 *** SEP 76.4 54.8 65.6 +2.9 3.25 -0.15 *** OCT 65.3 47.6 56.5 +5.9 2.88 +0.72 *** NOV 44.4 27.6 36.0 +0.5 0.21 -1.89 1.7 DEC 26.6 12.2 19.4 -2.4 2.64 +1.41 24.2 TOTAL 58.2 38.9 48.5 +1.0 41.10 +8.74 *** *** RECORDS ********************************************************* TEMPERATURES.... HIGHS: 83 ON MARCH 26TH. 86 ON OCTOBER 7TH...TIED PREVIOUS RECORD. LOWS: 34 ON SEPTEMBER 15TH...TIED PREVIOUS RECORD. HIGHEST LOWS: 38 ON JANUARY 4TH. 72 ON OCTOBER 6TH. 71 ON OCTOBER 7TH. LOWEST HIGHS: -4 ON FEBRUARY 4TH...TIED PREVIOUS. MONTHLY: 10TH WARMEST OCTOBER AT 56.5 DEGREES...TIED WITH 1953. SEASONAL: 9TH WARMEST FALL AT 52.7 DEGREES. YEARLY: NONE. PRECIPITATION... ONE-DAY PCPN: 4.05" ON AUGUST 18TH...ALSO 6TH WETTEST DAY ON RECORD. 2.71" ON AUGUST 19TH. 1.21" ON DECEMBER 1ST. ONE-DAY SNOWFALL: 8.0" ON FEBRUARY 25TH. 6.9" ON MARCH 2ND. 3.0" ON APRIL 11TH. 7.0" ON DECEMBER 23RD. MONTHLY PCPN: ALL-TIME WETTEST AUGUST WITH 13.75 INCHES...ALSO WETTEST MONTH ON RECORD. 8TH DRIEST NOVEMBER WITH 0.21 INCHES. MONTHLY SNOWFALL: 4TH SNOWIEST FEBRUARY WITH 23.8 INCHES. 5TH SNOWIEST DECEMBER WITH 24.2 INCHES. SEASONAL PRECIPITATION: WETTEST SUMMER ON RECORD WITH 20.32 INCHES. YEARLY PRECIPITATION: 8TH WETTEST YEAR ON RECORD WITH 41.10 INCHES. *** DISCUSSION ****************************************************** JANUARY GOT THE YEAR STARTED OFF ON A MILD NOTE...WITH TEMPERATURES AVERAGING NEARLY 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE FIRST THIRD OF THE MONTH. MORE SEASONABLE AIR FLOWED INTO THE REGION FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH...ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES ONLY DROPPED BELOW ZERO ON 3 DAYS. IN A NORMAL JANUARY THIS OCCURS ALMOST 12 TIMES. IN THE END... DESPITE THE RELATIVE COOL DOWN...THE MONTH FINISHED 6 1/2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH WAS BELOW NORMAL...BUT SNOWFALL WAS RIGHT AROUND THE MONTHLY NORM. MOST OF THE SNOW THAT FELL WAS GENERALLY OF THE LIGHTER...DRY VARIETY. FEBRUARY BROUGHT MEMORIES OF WINTERS GONE BY...WITH SOME OF THE COLDEST AIR IN RECENT YEARS FOR THE FIRST THIRD OF THE MONTH... FOLLOWED BY A MAJOR WINTER STORM TOWARD THE END OF THE MONTH. ON 8 CONSECUTIVE DAYS //3RD THROUGH 10TH//...LOW TEMPERATURES BOTTOMED OUT AT 10 DEGREES BELOW ZERO OR COLDER. THIS WAS THE 4TH LONGEST STREAK ON RECORD OF THIS KIND FOR LA CROSSE...WITH THE LONGEST BEING A STRING OF 11 DAYS WITH -10 OR COLDER LOW TEMPERATURES FROM JANUARY 27 THROUGH FEBRUARY 6 OF 1996. DURING THIS LATEST STREAK...HIGHS WERE MOSTLY IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO AROUND 10 DEGREES...BUT FAILED TO CRACK ZERO ON THE 4TH. TEMPERATURES WARMED TO...OR ABOVE...THE SEASONABLE NORMAL FOR THE LAST HALF OF THE MONTH... BUT STILL FINISHED ALMOST 9 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 13.8 DEGREES MADE IT THE COLDEST MONTH SINCE DECEMBER OF 2000. SNOWFALL WAS THE MAIN WEATHER STORY FOR THE LATER HALF OF THE MONTH...AS A MAJOR WINTER STORM BROUGHT 21 INCHES OF SNOW TO THE LA CROSSE AIRPORT FROM THE 23RD THOUGH 25TH. THIS WAS THE LARGEST 3-DAY TOTAL ON RECORD FOR LA CROSSE...BEATING OUT THE LATE JANUARY SNOW STORM OF 1996 //18.8 INCHES//. THIS STORM ACCOUNTED FOR NEARLY THE ENTIRE 23.8 MONTHLY TOTAL...WHICH MADE IT THE 4TH SNOWIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD. ANOTHER WINTER STORM WOULD IMPACT THE AREA LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER THE FEBRUARY STORM...WITH THE BULK OF ITS SNOWFALL COMING ON THE 2ND OF MARCH //6.9 INCHES//. THIS WOULD BE THE LAST TASTE OF APPRECIABLE SNOWFALL FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH THOUGH...AS WARM AIR INVADED THE AREA BY MID MONTH...HANGING ON THROUGH THE REST OF MARCH. THE DEEP SNOW PACK OF OVER A FOOT MELTED AWAY BY 14TH. THE FIRST TASTE OF 80 DEGREE TEMPERATURES FOR THE NEW YEAR CAME ON THE 25TH AND 26TH //83 BOTH DAYS//...BUT THIS WARMER AIR ALSO BROUGHT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. MEASURABLE RAIN FELL ON 6 OF THE LAST 8 DAYS OF MARCH. APRIL BROUGHT SOME COOLER AIR BACK TO THE REGION FOR THE FIRST COUPLE WEEKS...WITH TEMPERATURES ON A COUPLE DAYS BARELY CLIMBING ABOVE FREEZING. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY...THESE WERE ALSO SOME OF THE WINDIEST DAYS OF THE YEAR...ADDING AN ADDITIONAL BITE TO THE ALREADY CHILLY AIR. TEMPERATURES WOULD RIDE A ROLLER COASTER OF SORTS FOR MOST OF THE MONTH...BUT THE TREND WAS TOWARD WARMER CONDITIONS FOR THE END OF THE MONTH. THE FIRST 90 DEGREE HIGH OF THE YEAR OCCURRED THIS MONTH...WITH TEMPERATURES TOPPING OUT AT 90 ON THE 29TH. THE SNOW WASN/T DONE QUITE YET THOUGH...AS A STORM SYSTEM BROUGHT 3 1/2 INCHES TO LA CROSSE ON THE 11TH AND 12TH. THIS WOULD BE THE LAST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL FOR THE 2006-07 WINTER SEASON. MAY SAW ITS SHARE OF SWINGS IN HIGH TEMPERATURES ALSO...RANGING FROM A HIGH OF 64 ON THE 20TH...TO A MAX OF 92 ON THE 14TH. ALL IN ALL THOUGH... THE MONTH WOULD AVERAGE OUT OVER 3 1/2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. FOR PRECIPITATION...MAY WOULD FINISH 1/2 INCH ABOVE NORMAL...BUT TWO-THIRDS OF THE 3.91 INCH TOTAL FELL ON THE 23RD AND 24TH. IN FACT...THE MONTH STARTED OUT WITH 11 CONSECUTIVE DAYS OF DRY CONDITIONS...WITH ONLY 0.02 INCHES OF RAIN FALLING OVER THAT SPAN. JUNE WOULD START OFF AS A WET ONE...WITH MEASURABLE RAIN FALLING ON 5 OUT OF THE FIRST 6 DAYS. LA CROSSE WOULD GO OVER A WEEK WITHOUT RAIN AFTER THAT THOUGH...WITH THE LAST 8 DAYS OF THE MONTH ALSO DRY. OVERALL...JUNE WOULD FINISH AROUND ONE INCH BELOW NORMAL. TEMPERATURES WERE SEASONABLE...WITH THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ABOUT 1 1/2 DEGREES ABOVE A NORMAL JUNE. THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT WARM UPS OR COOL DOWNS. JULY WOULD CONTINUE THE DRY TREND...ALTHOUGH THAT IS NOT EVIDENT BY THE MONTHLY TOTAL OF 3.54 INCHES...WHICH IS ONLY ABOUT THREE-QUARTERS OF AN INCH BELOW THE NORMAL. THIS TOTAL IS VERY MISLEADING...AS 90 PERCENT OF THAT AMOUNT FELL ON TWO DAYS...WITH 1.70 INCHES ON THE 3RD AND 1.49 INCHES ON THE 26TH. THERE WERE ONLY 3 OTHER DAYS IN THE MONTH WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION...BRINGING THE TOTAL FOR THE MONTH TO 5. AN AVERAGE JULY USUALLY EXPERIENCES 11 SUCH DAYS. THE LONGEST PERIOD WITHOUT MORE THAN A TRACE OF RAIN EXTENDED FROM THE 5TH THROUGH THE 21ST...17 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. TEMPERATURES WERE NORMAL FOR JULY...WITH THE WARMEST DAY OF THE YEAR COMING ON THE 8TH WHEN MERCURIES TOPPED OUT AT 97. THE BOUT WITH DRY CONDITIONS WOULD COME TO AN ABRUPT END IN AUGUST...AS A RECORD 13.75 INCHES FELL. THIS IS NOT ONLY THE RECORD FOR THE MONTH...BUT THE ALL-TIME RECORD FOR ANY MONTH IN LA CROSSE. THE 18TH AND 19TH SET NEW ONE-DAY RECORDS...WITH THE 4.05 INCHES ON THE 18TH ALSO BECOMING THE 6TH WETTEST DAY ALL-TIME FOR LA CROSSE. IN ADDITION...THE 18TH AND 19TH COMBINED FOR THE 2ND HIGHEST TWO-DAY RAIN TOTAL ON RECORD //6.76 INCHES//...FALLING SHORT OF THE SOGGY 27TH AND 28TH OF OCTOBER 1900 //7.27 INCH TOTAL//. FURTHER...MEASURABLE RAIN FELL ON 15 DAYS THIS PAST AUGUST...WELL ABOVE HE NORMAL OF 10. ON FOUR OF THOSE DAYS...MORE THAN AN INCH WAS RECORDED. DESPITE ALL THE RAIN... TEMPERATURES STILL MANAGED TO AVERAGE ABOVE NORMAL FOR AUGUST. THE RECORD RAINS OF AUGUST...WHEN COMBINED WITH JUNE AND JULY/S RAINFALL...MADE IT THE WETTEST SUMMER ON RECORD FOR LA CROSSE WITH 20.32 INCHES FALLING OVER THOSE 3 MONTHS. THE PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH WAS IN 2000 WHEN 20.11 INCHES WAS RECORDED. RAINFALL DROPPED BACK TO MORE SEASONABLE NORMS IN SEPTEMBER...AND WAS FAIRLY WELL SPREAD OUT THROUGH THE MONTH. EIGHT DAYS RECORDED ONE-TENTH OF AN INCH OR GREATER... WITH ALL ROUGHLY AT LEAST 4 DAYS APART FROM EACH OTHER. TEMPERATURES WERE WARM...ESPECIALLY AT THE START OF THE MONTH...WITH 80 DEGREE OR GREATER DAYS FOR THE FIRST 6 DAYS. THE LAST 90 DEGREE DAY OF THE YEAR OCCURRED ON THE 21ST. WET CONDITIONS RETURNED FOR THE START OF OCTOBER...WITH 11 OUT OF THE FIRST 19 DAYS RECORDING MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION. HOWEVER...THE FAUCET WOULD SHUT OFF AFTER THAT...WITH ONLY AN ADDITIONAL TRACE OF RAIN FALLING //ON 4 DAYS// THROUGH THE REST OF THE MONTH. TEMPERATURES WERE ABOVE NORMAL ON THE WHOLE...BUT FAIRLY TYPICAL ASIDE FROM A VERY WARM START. HIGHS TOPPED 80 ON THE 4TH THROUGH THE 7TH...WITH LOWS ON THE 6TH AND 7TH IN THE LOWER 70S. THE FIRST FREEZING TEMPERATURES OF THE FALL CAME ON THE 25TH...A COUPLE WEEKS LATER THAN NORMAL. THE DRY CONDITIONS WOULD CONTINUE IN NOVEMBER AS ONLY 4 OF THE 30 DAYS RECORDED MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION. THE TOTAL OF 0.21 INCHES WAS NOT ONLY NEARLY 2 INCHES BELOW THE MONTHLY NORMAL...BUT ALSO MADE IT THE 8TH DRIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD. THIS WAS QUITE A CHANGE FROM THE VERY WET SUMMER. THE FIRST FEW SNOW FLAKES OF THE WINTER SEASON FELL IN NOVEMBER...WITH THE FIRST DAY OF MEASURABLE SNOW ON THE 17TH //0.1 INCHES//. THIS WAS A JUST A FEW DAYS LATER THAN THE NORMAL DATE FOR LA CROSSE/S FIRST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL //NOVEMBER 11TH//. TEMPERATURES WERE NORMAL...WITH NO BIG PUSHES OF WARM OR COLD AIR. THE MONTH DID END ON A CHILLY NOTE THOUGH...WITH THE FIRST SINGLE DIGIT LOW OF THE YOUNG WINTER SEASON OCCURRING ON THE MORNING OF THE 30TH //9 DEGREES//. A WINTER STORM KICKED OFF DECEMBER...BRINGING SNOW...FREEZING DRIZZLE...AND SLEET ON THE 1ST. A UNIQUE FEATURE OF THIS STORM WAS THE AMOUNT OF SLEET THAT FELL...AND THAT IT OCCURRED FOR SEVERAL HOURS. NORMALLY...SLEET LASTS FOR ABOUT 1/2 HOUR TO AN HOUR... WITH THE PRECIPITATION THEN TRANSITIONING TO EITHER SNOW OR RAIN. IN THE CASE OF THIS STORM...THE TEMPERATURE PROFILE IN THE ATMOSPHERE WAS SUCH THAT IT SUPPORTED SLEET FORMATION FOR MANY HOURS. THE SNOW KEPT COMING FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH...WITH 10 DAYS RECORDING MEASURABLE SNOWFALL. ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM WOULD MOVE ACROSS THE AREA ON THE 22ND AND 23RD...DROPPING 11.4 INCHES OF SNOW. IN ADDITION TO THE HEFTY SNOW TOTALS...STRONG WINDS ACCOMPANIED THE SYSTEM...LEADING TO BLOWING...DRIFTING AND NEAR WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS. THE 24.2 INCH SNOW TOTAL FOR THE MONTH MADE IT THE 5TH SNOWIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. ALL IN ALL... 2007 WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR ITS SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION EVENTS. AUGUST CRUSHED THE PREVIOUS RECORD WETTEST MONTH BY ALMOST 2 INCHES...AND DESPITE A RELATIVELY DRY JUNE AND JULY...HELPED SET THE RECORD FOR THE WETTEST SUMMER IN LA CROSSE. TORRENTIAL RAINFALL ON AUGUST 18TH AND 19TH LED TO FLOODING OF HISTORIC PORTIONS FOR PARTS OF THE REGION. MOTHER NATURE/S WRATH WAS NOT CONFINED TO THE SUMMER...WITH SEVERAL WINTER STORMS ALSO PUMMELING THE AREA. SIGNIFICANT STORMS AFFECTED THE AREA IN LATE FEBRUARY... EARLY MARCH...AND THEN AGAIN IN EARLY AND LATE DECEMBER. ********************************************************************* HIGHEST TEMPERATURE FOR 2007..........................97 ON JULY 8TH LOWEST TEMPERATURE FOR 2007...................... -19 ON FEBRUARY 5TH HIGHEST ONE-DAY PRECIPITATION...................4.05" ON AUGUST 18TH NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HIGHS AT OR ABOVE 90 DEGREES..................20 NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HIGHS AT OR BELOW 32 DEGREES..................69 NUMBER OF DAYS WITH ZERO OR BELOW TEMPERATURES....................19 PEAK WIND GUST..................64 MPH FROM THE NORTH ON AUGUST 11TH NUMBER OF DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION.....................113 PERCENTAGE OF DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION................. 31% NUMBER OF DAYS WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES....................211 PERCENTAGE OF DAYS WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES.................58%