Interesting Radar Feature Last Week, Tuesday Morning

Right around sunrise Tuesday morning the NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan radar (MKX) showed some curious circular reflectivity returns. The echoes developed suddenly and then grew in size between 6:45 AM and 7:30 AM. The MKX staff suspects these to be birds taking off right at sunrise. Some of the echoes initially show returns as high as 30 dBZ, which would equate to a decent shower if the returns were made of rain drops. These are likely dense clusterings of geese heading out early to feed in the fields.

Below is an animated loop of three radar images taken at 6:47 AM...6:57 AM....and 7:07 AM. There are large plumes located in Dodge, Dane, Columbia, Green Lake, Fond Du Lac, and Rock counties. In addition, there is a fourth large clustering in northern Illinois and if you look very close a couple much smaller rings in Jefferson and Waukesha counties.


- Quads, hailing from Grand Marsh Observatory atop Elk Castle Hill!