Phenology

Observations by Gary Fewless for Green Bay WI (Lat.N 44.51° Long. W 88.02° ), except as noted. For flowers lacking conspicuous petals or sepals I define "anthesis" as release of pollen by mature anthers.

January 2006

Observations by Gary Fewless, except as noted

Date	Observation (Click on links for photos)
Jan 31	This has been the warmest January on record for many if not all parts of Wisconsin. In Green Bay the average high temperature was 35.5° F, compared to the long term average of 24.1 for this date. The average low temperature was even more remarkable at 25.6 compared to the long-term average of 7.1. That is a difference of 18.5° higher than average!! Green Bay received 2 inches of snow in January compared to the average of 13.9 inches. Another measure of the warm weather in January is heating degree days (HDD). This January in Green Bay the HDD total was 1060, about 69% of the average for the month of 1537.
Jan 30	Snow (1.3 inches) that began last night continued through mid-day today with enough depth to cover the ground and standing vegetation in most places, but mild temperatures are forecast so it may not remain for long.
Jan 29	Eastern Chipmunk out and about, Oconto County, Pensaukee (Tom Erdman). People have been reporting that the frost is out of the ground in many places. The rain over the last couple of days was probably a factor in the thawing. Green Bay received 0.51 inches of rain today including about 0.2 inches of snow that continued well into the next day (Jan 30th). If the 1.05 inches of rain over the last two days had fallen as snow it would have been an impressive storm.
Jan 28	Green Bay received 0.54 inches of rain, high temperature of 40° F, low of 25. Feels like spring.
Jan 27	Green Bay's high temperature of 51° F is a new record for this date. Bare soil is muddy on many sites. This has been a remarkably warm month and it may well become the warmest January on record. The warm weather was widespread. Madeline Island reported a high temperature of 51° F, Superior and Ironwood Michigan 50 and Clam Lake 49. 6:30 pm, I saw a leaf-footed bug (Heteroptera: Coreidae) walking on the sidewalk outside of the UWGB Lab Sciences building. That's the earliest I've ever seen these outdoors (Mike Draney).
Jan 23	The temperature has not been below zero the entire month of January. If the temperatures remain above zero for the next seven days, this would an unusual happening, Oconto Falls (Greg Miller).
Jan 11	High temperatures in mid 30's F today. The mouth of the Fox River and lower Green Bay are ice free although there is still ice along the shore line to either side of the mouth. Since Dec 22, the daily high temperatures have all been at or above 32 except for one (the high on Jan 6 was 29 F). Temperatures have been roughly 15 degrees above average during this period.
Jan 10	Today is the first significant period of sunny weather in Green Bay since about Christmas.
Jan 04	Warm, wet and foggy weather continues in the Green Bay area. While walking my dog last night I found several live earth worms on the road! I should have expected this since the top layer of soil in the cleared field has been thawed since Sunday (Jan 1). Tom Erdman also reports earthworms out on UWGB campus this evening. Where the snow has melted, white clover can be found with green, healthy leaves. Many green, living (but mostly dormant) plants can be seen even in the middle of our winter, if you look carefully.
Jan 03	Since Dec 23 the weather in Green Bay has been remarkable uniform. The temperature has not risen above 38°F nor fallen below 28° and it has been overcast almost without interruption during this period. Our daily low temperatures have been consistently above the average high for those dates. Light rain, mist and fog have been frequent and today the fog persists (until 2 pm now with no sign of change). In the City of Green Bay most snow is gone on level open sites, though some remains where it was drifted, piled or shaded. Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage) has been noted emerging from the soil in springy sites, and also Caltha palustris (marsh marigold), City of Green Bay (Charlie Fisk). Both of these species normally emerge and flower in early spring, but they get confusing signals when we have prolonged periods above freezing in mid-winter. Symplocarpus is very tolerant of these mistakes, but Caltha plants emerging in winter will die (at least the exposed tips of stems) when temperatures return to normal.