August dubbed "Tree Check Month" to detect invasive species in Canada

Jul 31, 2019

Ottawa – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and partners across North America are marking August as "Tree Check Month." Throughout August, Canadians are encouraged to check their trees and gardens, or property they frequent, for signs of insects, disease and fungi that harm plants.

Invasive species cause serious damage to our economy and environment. Early detection is always better. In recent years, Canadians have discovered some of the largest invasive threats to Canada. Pests like hemlock woolly adelgid, Asian long-horned beetle and emerald ash borer in new areas were often first found by Canadians who reported them to CFIA.

Reporting to a CFIA local office or online if a pest is discovered helps CFIA direct teams to where they are needed most and respond before pests can spread. CFIA's invasive pest cards and pest fact sheets provide information on what to look for and what to report. Those wishing to learn more about invasive pests are encouraged to follow CFIA on social media for updates on pest movements and pest reporting.

Source : Government of Canada

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.