Jerrid`s Journal: kare11.com/weather

28
July
If you have a lawn, use a mulching mower, which allows
the finely shredded grass to remain in place on the
lawn, so no raking or bagging is necessary. Increase the
mowing height during summer’s heat. It is best to remove
no more than one third of the leaf blade during each
mowing.
NANCY JAHNEL
If you have a compost pile, keep it
moist during dry spells. Make sure
to keep a layer several inches
deep of dry material on the top
to prevent flies. You can also
install a perforated PVC pipe in
the center of the compost pile to
keep it aerated without turning
the compost.
Find more gardening tips:
kare11.com/grow
Belinda Jensen
Meteorologist
Bobby Jensen
Gardening Expert
Your hosts of "Grow with KARE"
Fridays on KARE-11 at 6 pm.
The twelve-spotted skimmer is one of 140 dragonfly and damselfly species in Minnesota.
They serve as a vital part of the food chain near wetlands, rivers and lakes and comprise an
important part of our natural biological diversity.
Water conservation tips
Jerrid’s Journal: kare11.com/weather
Jerrid Sebesta
Meteorologist
The average high temperature throughout the month is just over 83
degrees. July is known for long, extended hot periods. The most
notorious heat wave occurred back in 1936 when the Twin Cities had
five consecutive days of 100 degrees or more. During that stretch,
the all-time record high for the Metro was reached at 108 degrees!
Along with the heat comes the humidity in July. Seeing dew points
soar into the 70s is fairly common this time of year. July of 2011 was
an exceptionally humid time. Moorhead set a state record for the
highest dew point of 88 degrees, nearly unheard of for this part of
the country. That same afternoon, the Twin Cities set a record with
an 82 degree dew point.
How much water does it take to wash your hands, wash a plate or
get a drink from a water fountain? Most of us probably don’t know.
Americans, in general, have plenty of water whenever we want it.
Here in Minnesota, we use an average of 80-100 gallons of water
every day. Conserving water can be easy. An inexpensive low flow
showerhead can reduce water usage in the shower by nearly a
third. Fix those dripping or leaky faucets, and save water. When
rain falls, why not harvest all that fresh, free water for your gardens
and lawns? One inch of rain on a 1000 square foot rooftop can
yield 600 gallons of water. Many watershed districts throughout
Minnesota offer rain barrels and rain barrel workshops. To learn
more, go to www.freshwater.org
Check out the MN
Wx Guide mobile app!
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Phenology
Astronomy
Jim Gilbert’s Nature Notes
DAVID OWEN
Phenology is based on 2011 field notes with consideration of information from
many other years. Observations are from the Lake Waconia, Lake Minnetonka
and the Twin Cities area unless otherwise noted.
First Week of July
Rodney Nerdahl
Twelve-spotted dragonflies skim over ponds.
Cedar waxwings and American robins relish the
ripe fruit from red mulberry trees. Baltimore oriole
parents bring their young to feeding stations for
grape jelly and sugar water. Farmers cut the
second crop of alfalfa. Field corn is usually at
least waist high and soybean plants are up several
inches. The picking of ripe garden red raspberries
has begun. Swamp milkweed and black-eyed
Susan have showy flowers.
Fireflies can be
numerous along forest edges from extreme NE
Minnesota to the southern counties.
Morning Stars
Second Week of July
During warm spells the surface water temperature
of lakes rises into the upper 70s. Water striders
Grasshopper
skate over surface water. Shorebirds such as
lesser yellowlegs and least sandpipers have begun migrating through from the Arctic. Wild blackcap
raspberry fruit is ripe and good eating. Garden lilium and clematis vines have extremely conspicuous
flowers. Other showy perennials include delphinium, Yucca filamentosa,
golden yarrow, coralbells and Maltese cross. Northblue and Northcountry,
blueberry shrubs, developed by the U of MN, have tasty fruit that is ripe and
ripening. In southwest and western MN and into the Dakotas, the combining
of wheat begins.
Third Week of July
Field corn begins to tassel out and soybeans start blooming. Gardeners pick
their first ripe tomatoes. We could be enjoying our first meals of locally grown
sweet corn. Common milkweed blooms nicely and there isn’t another roadside
plant that can compete with its sweet fragrance. Showy blooming prairie plants
include purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan and ox-eye. Great blue heron
young are in and out of their nests.
Fourth Week of July
Now that most other birds have almost stopped singing, the loud house
wrens, which are still involved with nesting, add much pleasure with their
effervescent singing on hot July days. The first Canada geese are flying.
The adults have been flightless since about mid-June when they molted
their wing feathers. The young geese are testing their new flight feathers
so whole families can be seen in flight.
A sound of summer, annual
cicadas sing loudly and shrilly; the sometimes pulsating buzzing intensifies
with warmth. For various melons, such as honeydew and muskmelon, 86
to 98 degrees F is the temperature range at which the rate of growth and
development is the greatest. Wild gooseberry fruit is ripe and ripening.
Farmers have begun cutting the third crop of alfalfa.
Fifth Week of July
Look For:
First field corn silking
(Carver County)
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
July 15
July 7
July 11
July 17
July 3
July 11
July 16
July 19
July 16
July 14
July 19
Lake surface temperatures over 80 degrees F are not unusual during hot
spells.
Carolina grasshoppers are on the wing. Eastern bluebirds continue to nest, as these birds
nest two or three times during the spring/summer season. Purple martins are observed in flocks, already
staging for migration. Common mullein, monarda, white sweet clover, butter-and-eggs, common yarrow
and blue vervain all bloom as usual. Wild serviceberries, blueberries, pin cherries and red raspberries are
ripe in northern MN.
Mercury enters the morning
sky on July 9, but is
impossible to see until the
final week of the month.
To see it then, look about
five degrees above the
east-northeastern horizon
45 minutes before sunrise.
Mars and Jupiter emerge
from the Sun’s glare a week
earlier, appearing a few
degrees apart! Look for them
between eight to fourteen
degrees above the eastnortheastern horizon.
Antares
20°
Scorpius the Scorpion
South
CONSTELLATION
July 15, 2013 at 10:30 pm
Evening Stars
Venus can be found about
seven degrees above the
western horizon 45 minutes
after sunset. Saturn appears
much higher, approximately
27 degrees above the
southwestern horizon when
viewed 60 minutes after
sunset. Don’t wait too long
after sunset to observe
Venus; it drops out of sight
90 minutes after sunset.
Saturn, in contrast, lingers for
more than 3½ hours before
it sets.
25
o
20
o
15
o
10
o
5
o
“Seven
NEW Sisters”
Star Cluster
CDT
Moon-July 3
COMING
Moon-July 4
Stars of Taurus
Moon-July 5
Mars
Aldebaran
East-Northeast
East
July 3 - 5 at 4:30 am C.D.T.
July 3 – 5, 2013 at 4:30 am CDT
Noon
W
S
Sunset
66˚
N
31˚
E
Mars has been absent from the sky due to its close
proximity to the Sun. This month it finally escapes the
Sun’s glare, climbing into the pre-dawn sky. To see
the “Red Planet,” choose an observing site with an
unobstructed view of the east-northeastern horizon.
Then use the brightest star, Aldebaran, of Taurus’
famous “Seven Sisters” star cluster, and the waning
crescent moon to pinpoint Mars.
Sunrise
SUN DECLINATION
July 20
29