December 20, 2021 at 2:44 p.m.
Area experiences wild temperature swing, hurricane-force winds, heavy fog and snow all in 24 hours
Airport records 76 mph wind gust
Area experiences wild temperature swing, hurricane-force winds, heavy fog and snow all in 24 hours
The Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport recorded the top wind gust in the state from the line of thunderstorms that moved through Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.
Matt Leitner, airport director, said the National Weather Service weather station at the airport detected a 76 mph wind gust at 2:53 a.m. Thursday, with sustained winds of 35 miles per hour and an air temperature of 50 degrees.
"It wasn't just the wind, we also had the fog, which canceled yesterday's (Wednesday) afternoon and evening flights," Leitner said, adding that the weather station at the airport briefly lost power, but a portable generator got it back up and running.
"We did lose power to the terminal as well, but we have a generator that powers the airfield lighting and the terminal," he explained.
Leitner said all aircraft were moved into hangars and there was no structural damage reported to any buildings.
But like a lot of the upper Midwest, the fog snarled air traffic.
"The visibility was too low for our instrument approach," Leitner said.
In an interview Thursday, Janet Jamison, manager of the Hodag Dome, said she wasn't concerned about the savage wind gusts overnight because she knows that the 128,000 square foot air-supported structure was designed to withstand high winds.
"They say that it is equipped with special cables that can withstand wind speeds of up to 120 miles per hour and snow loads of 60 pounds per square foot," Jamison said. "So this was within its range and it performed well."
She said the dome is actually programmed to "sense" when threatening weather may become an issue and compensate on its own.
"It puts itself into bad weather mode whenever it detects increasing wind speeds," she said. "Which means the dome membrane stretches a little tighter and the temperature raises a couple degrees in case there is snow."
When pressed, she did admit to letting out a little held breath Thursday morning.
"I will say that I was happy to pull into the parking lot this morning and see it standing there like every other morning," Jamison said. "I went inside and checked everything out, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary."
She did say the backup generators kicked on when the main power cut out as is intended.
"But the dome itself was inflated and seemed to be doing fine," she said. "Overall, it looks great."
To top off the strange sequence of weather events, by Thursday afternoon, temperatures were heading down to the low teens. The chilly temps continued into Friday, resulting in a more winter-like atmosphere.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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