Winter finally arrives in Madison WI
A series of Terra and Aqua MODIS “true color” images (Java animation) shows the transition from a dismal “brown Christmas” in December 2006 (above; December had an average monthly temperature of 30.5º F, or 7.5º F above normal)…to snow cover in mid-January 2007 (3-inch snow depth with overnight minimum temperatures of -3º F at Madison on 16-17 January)…to frozen lakes and 5 inches of snow cover at Madison on 25 January 2007 (below). According to the Wisconsin State Climatology Office site, Lake Mendota (the largest of the four lakes in the immediate Madison vicinity) officially froze completely on 20 January 2007 — well past the median freeze date of 20 December, but 10 days shy of the latest freeze on record (which was 30 January 1932). 20 January 2007 ended up being the second-latest Lake Mendota freeze on record.
