Wacky Wisconsin weather
A rant about the unpredictable Wisconsin weather patterns
Photo by Cade Fisher
Allison Pazdernick, a second-year nursing student, is seen rollerblading down the road next to a melting pile of snow. Summer activities are in full swing, but winter is still fighting to be relevant.
If there is one thing to take away from this article, it’s that Mother Nature needs to pick a lane and stick to it.
If you have been blissfully unaware or not in Wisconsin for the past week, three different seasons have been fighting to take hold of the city of Eau Claire and the greater Midwest.
The past few days have handed Eau Claire an entree with summer, winter and spring sprinkled all over it, fighting to be the main seasoning to end up on top.
When I picture spring, I see green grass that stains your clothes a vibrant lime color, budding trees that bring color back to the foliage and flowers sprouting out of the earth to give nature a natural dryer sheet smell.
In reality, Eau Claire has seen sporadic changes in temperature, UV rays and precipitation that makes the city look like a full year’s timelapse.
According to the National Weather Service, from April 9-16 the highest recorded temperature was 89 degrees Fahrenheit and the lowest was 28 degrees.
I’m not sure if Heat Miser and Snow Miser are battling to be the King of Spring, but I prefer one season at a time, thank you very much.
I will say, it was beautiful to see the temperatures climb last week and let students get a chance to be outside while the National Conference for Undergraduate Research was on campus. I live on Upper Campus, so it was cool to see Towers Field filled with students sunbathing and hanging outside.
This winter has been a long and brutal one, so it was nice to open up the shorts drawer and look forward to the summer wardrobe.
It was a jumpscare to say the least when three days of tanning in the sun left dozens of students with sunburns, soon to be covered in frostbite.
In a matter of days, Eau Claire residents went from putting on sunscreen to scraping their cars. Snow started falling to the ground at 11:30 a.m. April 14, according to the Weather Channel.
Using this article as proof, I am a UW-Eau Claire student who focuses on the journalistic side of this institution. I cannot claim to have the knowledge or power of a woman in STEM, so I am not sure how the weather is able to change like this.
I can say, though, rather eloquently if I try, that this rippling of weather patterns is an abomination to the season of spring.
It is normalized in the Midwest to have prolonged seasons, seeing snow starting in September or October and lasting all the way to April, or even May, but I demand that it be consistent.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning from 7 p.m. on April 16 to 10 a.m. on April 17, predicting 4-10 inches of snow. This is unacceptable when I am still rubbing aloe vera on my back from days at Half Moon Beach.
I know I have no say in how Mother Nature plays out the weather, but I would love it if she could keep it to one season.
According to the Weather Channel, this upcoming week looks more consistent, with temperatures from 30-50 degrees Fahrenheit. Let’s hope that we get a more consistent incline to summer temperatures from here on out.
Fisher can be reached at [email protected].
Cade Fisher is a third-year communications and creative writing student. This is his fourth semester at The Spectator and his second as news editor. In his free time, he enjoys rollerblading, reading and being anxious about anything that comes his way.
