Massive Mayfly hatch detected on doppler radar

The folks who invented Doppler never expected this.

A massive Mayfly hatch over the Mississippi last night near La Crosse shows up brilliantly on the Doppler radar reflectivity loop last night. The hatch occurred between about 9pm and 10pm from near Winona south through La Crosse and to near Guttenberg, Iowa.

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Mayfly "cloud" visible on NWS La Crosse doppler radar Monday night.

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As the dense "cloud" of Mayflies hatches and drifts over the river valley, it shows up on Doppler as the radar beam hits the cloud and returns to the radar site. Doppler radar is so sensitive that birds, insects and even dust are visible in clear air mode.

Tropical Storm Bonnie?

The National Hurricane Center has upgraded the chance that a tropical wave near Puerto Rico will strengthen into a tropical storm within the next 48 hours from 20% to 40%. If it does, it would become tropical storm Bonnie.

Many forecast models then track the system toward the southeastern United States.

Stay tuned.

2010: Hottest year on record so far

It's either the mother of all coincidences or climate change is kicking into high gear.

We're half way through 2010 and NOAA reports that globally this is the hottest year on record so far. Check out these startling facts.

-June 2010 was the hottest on record globally (+1.22 degrees F)

-The past 4 MONTHS (Mar-Jun) have all been the hottest on record globally!

-2010 is on pace to be the hottest year on record globally (+1.22 degrees F)

-June was the 304th consecutive month above average globally!

-The last below average month was 25 years ago, February 1985. That's a lifetime for nearly 1/3 of the world's population.

2010 is on pace to surpass 1998 as the hottest year on record globally.

The data takes the wind out of the sails of those who would claim that the earth has been "cooling" since 1998. The 10 hottest years globally have all occurred since 1998, and there has not been one cooler than average year globally in 25 years.

You do the math.

PH