Local governments throughout Washtenaw County, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and FEMA will host a Flood Risk Information Open House for residents on Wednesday, April 30, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. at the Ypsilanti Township Board Room. County residents will have an opportunity to review a recently completed preliminary Flood Insurance Study (FIS) and its accompanying preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). Take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about flood risk and hazard mitigation.

Local celeb Woody the Woodchuck will give us her annual Groundhog Day weather prediction this Saturday, Feb. 2nd, at the Howell Nature Center promptly at 8:15 a.m. Woody boasts a 7 out of 9 record on predicting whether the weather will stay wintery for six more weeks. Come for Woody and stay for the pancake breakfast and celeb photo op with Woody. We know Jamie will be there!

Sure, they’re in the air, but they’re also in books and films right here at the library. Local artist Thomas L. Clark, aka Dr. Snowflake, makes the loveliest snowflakes! Check out his books to see intricate examples of the magic you can create with just paper and scissors: The Tree in the Garden, A Twinkling on the Roof, and Of Gifts and Days, among others. He also has a video with demonstrations.

For instructions there’s Paper Snowflakes For All Ages, and for the science oriented there’s Snowflakes, Sugar and Salt: Crystals Up Close and Snowflake Bentley (also on dvd), the story of a scientist who photographed snowflakes to study their formation. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released a summary of the Climate Change 2007 report. The report details how climate change will affect every region of the earth. The full 1,572-page report will be available on the IPCC web site.