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STEVE'S "WILD" WORLD OF WEATHER...


When I'm wondering about weather folklore and historical events this is the man I go to. With more than 50 years of statistical and observational research, he's the dude! When it comes to lunar cycles, woolly bear caterpillars, insects, bugs, and animals, he tracks them, records them, and establishes ties to weather patterns. Only one person takes climatology to a level like this. He's even earned a lifetime achievement award from the National Weather Service for his devotion to data and science. His name is Steve Gottschalk by way of Lowden, Iowa. He's a knowledgeable and interesting man. I'm grateful to him for lending his unique perspective to the site. Steve's "wild" world of weather can be found regularly right here on TSwails.com. Take it away Steve!


SOME WEATHER FOLKLORE FOR AUGUST

With August just around the corner I thought I would put some weather folklore dealing with the month.,,,,


"A chilly August, a cold February; a sultry August, a mild February."


"Cool August nights reveal hot weather for September."


"If the first week in August is unusually warm, the winter will be white and long."


SOME WEATHER FOLKLORE ABOUT BIRDS


"If the Killdeer holler today, tomorrow will be windy."


"Long and loud singing of robins in the the morning, denotes rain."


"Robins in the bush, rain is coming."

"If s robin sings on a high branch of a tree, it is a sign of fine weather."


EXCERPTS FROM MY OLD WEATHER JOURNAL


According to my old weather journal for the month of 1881, it got off to a hot start:


Aug. 1st-2nd - high temperatures for both days was 102 in the shade.

Aug. 4th - the thermometer got up to 108 in the shade.


Aug. 5th - a thunderstorm moved through the area with lots of wind but little rain.


Aug.9th - the temperature was 104 in the shade.


AUGUST FULL MOON

Each full moon usually has 3 or 4 names for it. For August there is the Sturgeon, Black Cherries, and Flying Up. The Red Full Moon is called as such, for as when it is rising or setting low in the late summer sky, the hazy atmosphere can cast it in various shades of red.

The full moon arrives on the 1st. My research has found that when it comes on the 1st there is a 75% chance of rain occurring on that day.

THE SMOKE IS BACK

The smoky skies are back with us. After a 2 week reprieve it came back from the 14th to the 18th and again from the 20th to the present. We now have had 41 days with smoky skies since May. The record is 43 days just 2 years ago. I was told that the smoke will be around for a while so there is a good chance that we will break that record.


EL NINO'S AND AUGUST TEMPERATURES

I was wondering if there was any correlation between El Nino's and August temperatures so I did some research and found 5 years that are similar to now with the ENSO index. Of those 5 years, 4 of them tended to have normal to above normal temperatures.

EASTER IOWA HISTORICAL WEATHER EVENTS

July 26, 1894 - Extremely hot temperatures across the entire state along with strong SW winds caused significant damage to the corn crop. Every station in Iowa hit at least 100 degrees. The state average high for this day was 104.1 degrees.

July 29, 1999 - A heat wave sent temperatures soaring to 107 degrees at Keosauqua. Dew points were in the lower 80's. Many areas had heat indices above 110. Burlington saw the highest heat index with 126.

July 31, 1993 - It was the year of the "wet summer". Dubuque and Waterloo set all-time records for June and July total rainfalls. Cedar Rapids had 34.40" of rain for the April thru July period. Below Davenport, Iowa July 1993

Aug. 1, 1922 - A severe hailstorm occurred across parts of eastern Iowa. Dubuque, Jackson, Delaware, Linn and Jones counties were affected. The greatest damage was in a swath from 4 miles wide to 40 miles long extending from the NW corner of Delaware county, southeastward. Hail drifted to a depth of 6" in some areas. The total damage was $500,000. Dubuque reported one of it's most severe storms ever.


That's all for this edition. On the "wild" side of weather I'm Steve Gottschalk.

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