Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be rainy with a high of 85. Sunrise is 5:57 AM and sunset 8:02 PM for 14h 04m 35s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 20.5% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1942, actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones, two-way radio communications, and Wi-Fi.
Via WI DNR Wildfire Dashboard
America understandably watches with concern and sadness over loss of life and property from fires in Maui. Here in Wisconsin, we’ve experienced no similar loss. We have seen, however, that drought conditions drive hundreds more wildfires than normal in Wisconsin this year, as Danielle Kaeding reports:
About 250 more wildfires than normal have ignited across Wisconsin so far this year due to ongoing drought conditions, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The agency’s wildfire dashboard shows the state has seen 871 fires that have consumed nearly 4,400 acres to date. The 10-year average for this time of year is 614 fires and roughly 1,800 acres burned, according to data shared with the Natural Resources Board on Wednesday.
“Prior to this, I think we had a drought stretch in 2012, (which) was the last time we were in this position,” Catherine Koele, the DNR’s wildfire prevention specialist, told the board. “But, again, this year…it’s been up and down. We see a little bit of rain. The grasses green up a little bit, and then it dries out again. So we’ve been on this roller coaster.”
Wildfires have already consumed almost five times as many acres as last year when 923 fires blazed during the state’s fire season. Koele said the number of acres burned this year has largely been driven by large-scale fires in Monroe and Waushara counties, including the Arcadia Fire that spanned more than 3,000 acres at Fort McCoy.
Despite that, Koele said there’s been a steady decline in the number of wildfires on average over the last three decades.
“That is good news for us,” Koele said. “A lot of this is, I think, technology, rapid response time, keeping those fires small. We’re having wetter springs. That’s just the reality of it.”
Mars helicopter Ingenuity takes off and spins as Perseverance watches: