Duluth snow shot; Still on track for extended “December Thaw”

Minnesota Weather Headlines:

Shot of snow favoring Duluth -Two Harbors & North Shore today

1" to 3" possible from Duluth north by later PM

2.6" snowfall at Duluth today Latest Duluth area snowfall reports

Slick roads in Duluth & along Highway 61 today

Weather Window for Duluth

(Use green slider to move to forecast hour, click on lower right for full screen window)

Forecast by NWS

Twin Cities milder today southerly wind returns

30s return this afternoon

Tale of Two Forecasts: North vs. South today

Minnesota will see a variety of weather today.

In the north, an upper air wave and surface front is triggering some snow from Ely to the Iron Range through Duluth and the North Shore communities.

Ely webcam shows fresh snow today.

Most areas could pick up an inch or so, but some locations may see 1" to 3" as bands of "higher reflectivity" (moderate snow) move through on radar.

Here's the live webcam at the Lake Superior Maritime Museum to track the snowfall today.

Twin Cities: A touch milder

Southerly winds and sunshine are the rule today in southern Minnesota.

Bare ground south of the Twin Cities should warm under today's sunshine. Look for 30s to return this afternoon.

Wednesday's weak cool front will be a "speed bump" in a warming trend this week. Temps will resume their upward trend later this week.

Tracking the weekend thaw: December goes missing

Our well advertised weekend thaw is on track to open December on a mild note. The European model is forecasting a 6 day "thaw" starting Saturday to open the month of December.

Image: Norwegian Met Institute

Western "Heat Pump" storm moves in:

NOAA's NAM (North American Mesoscale Model) shows a big storm in the North Pacific moving into the Pacific Northwest by Friday.

As the system moves inland, it will act as a kind of "heat pump"... turning winds into the south across the Upper Midwest.

[image]

Unseasonably mild air will again spill north into the Upper Midwest by this weekend.

The latest GFS & Euro model runs are still advertising temperatures in the upper 40s this weekend, peaking Monday...probably in the 50s.

Source: NOAA via Iowa State University

That's about +15 to +20 degrees vs. average for early December.

NOAA's GFS Model brings peak warming on Monday.

Temps should cool a bit next week, but are still likely to trend above average through the first week of December.

Right now I still don't see any big snow in sight for southern Minnesota. The GFS is hinting at a possible snow system along about December 10th or 11th, followed by much colder weather, but that's way too far out to be credible at this point.

At least there's hope!

PH