Insider Blog

Wintertime is a nuisance to many because of snow and frigid temperatures but it is still an important time of year for the environment. Colder conditions bring an end to the growing season and allow the soil to recharge, while also keeping bug populations in check. But winter is losing its chill and you may

With abnormally warm temperatures across Mid-Missouri, some plants are starting of their initial processes towards getting ready for the spring bloom. Most plants make their determination of when to break out of their winter modes by the temperatures of the soil. As air temperatures have continued to increase, the soil temperature has followed suit with

Each year, the sound of cicadas can be heard into the mid to later summer months. This upcoming spring though, an even larger unearthing of cicadas looks to make an appearance filling the trees with these harmless insects. There are two typical categories of cicadas in terms of when they unearth. This year, Mid-Missouri will

The next several mornings, Venus and Mars will be passing by closely to each other. This event will be visible to the human eye or through binoculars during the early dawn hours the next several days. Venus will be close to around 100 times brighter than Mars each morning. Both planets will look to pass

You might have noticed a steep increase in your latest utility bill from the month of January for the City of Columbia. This was due to the extreme cold we experienced throughout the last month. Cooling and heating degree days is a metric created for power companies to understand how much output will be needed

Many remember last year’s Super Bowl not just for some great plays but because of a few mishaps on the field. Super Bowl LVII coverage was full of players slipping and sliding over the turf, sometimes with no contact or obvious reason at all. This had many shaking their head, and others preparing to prevent

You’ve likely been enjoying recent milder temperatures but these conditions are pretty extreme for this time of year. Highs this past week have soared 20 degrees above average; our low temperatures actually look more like our seasonal daily highs. This heat wave was fueled by a stubborn high pressure system reminiscent of more intense patterns

February marks the start of earthquake preparedness month for the state of Missouri. This month is particularly important due to the New Madrid fault line located in Southeastern Missouri which produces nearly 200 earthquakes each year. Although the state has an active fault line, to kick off the month Oklahoma produced a spell of activity

With warmer temperatures slipping their way into Mid-Missouri, many people start to look forward to spring. With spring, comes an increase in the pollen in the atmosphere. The start of February marks a start to the allergy season for many people. The two primary allergens right now are due to increased tree pollen across the

The newest drought monitor is out with the most up-to-date outlook, and our recent dreary days had a silver lining! This above-average rainfall in the past weeks has been whittling away at our local drought, though we certainly aren’t out of the woods. Compared to the week prior, the new drought monitor shows a 25%

We are one day out from Groundhog Day which takes place Feb. 2 each year. The age old question many ask is, “How accurate is Punxsutawney Phil?” Things aren’t looking too great for the furry friend as his all-time recorded accuracy rate is 39% with the last decade seeing a 40% success rate. This points

Mid-Missouri is looking sunny and warm currently, and atmospheric blocking looks to hold a lock on this pattern throughout the second half of the week. Atmospheric blocking occurs whenever a high pressure system stalls over a region shielding the passage of low pressure systems. This leads to persistent weather patterns. The people who live underneath

Things have finally dried and warmed up across much of Mid-Missouri. The same is not true for much of the west coast as an atmospheric event known as a Pineapple Express looks to cause potential widespread floods across northern portions of California. A narrow band of moisture in the lower-level jet stream extends equatorward from

Light showers made their way through Mid-Missouri throughout the afternoon and evening hours. Although most people won’t think much of the importance of these lighter rain bands, it is actually important towards recovery of drought seen throughout much of the region. Current drought monitor conditions shows improvements across the southeastern portions of Mid-Missouri. The Missouri

The new drought monitor is out for Mid-MO and even after an increase in rain recently, we still see a large portion of the state in some form of drought. The current picture is somewhat better than even several months ago, but this abnormal dry period has been with us now since 2022. This multi-year

With a streak of warmer temperatures, more and more potholes will be seen across Mid-Missouri. The reasoning behind this lies within the changing of the seasons. The process in pothole formation begins whenever high volumes of traffic forms cracks in the roads surface. Rain or melting snow then seeps through these cracks causing pooling water