Old Man Winter extends his stay; deep snow cover to hang around
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The winter of 2013-14 reminds one of the relative who said upon arriving in December, "I'll be leaving once I get my own place."
Arctic cold has settled over the Upper Midwest and will be firmly established through the week. Sunday morning's cold temperature was but a foretaste of things to come. Note the appearance of an urban heat island extending from the Twin Cities up Interstate 94.
A weak weather system will move through South Dakota and Iowa today with light snow swiping southwest Minnesota.
The national weather map for today paints a larger picture of the forecast for precipitation today.
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The deep snow cover that has accumulated since early December is now over two feet in much of central and northern Minnesota. Fortunately, the heavy dumps of snow have bypassed the Red River Valley, where spring snow melt flooding is always a concern. Snow cover is not as deep in southwest and west central Minnesota.
Snow depth at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Sunday morning was 21 inches. The National Weather Service Office in Chanhassen reported a snow depth of 18 inches.
The eye in the sky gives some indication of the lower snow depth in southwest Minnesota.
Cold air gets reenforced on Wednesday and lasts through the week.
Looking ahead, beyond the meteorological winter, into March I can't promise much of a thaw. But, for now, there doesn't appear to be a big storm lurking for our neck of the woods. I'll keep an eye on the system expected to develop to our south on the weekend.
Very few open spots can be found on Lake Superior and this bitter cold spell could ice over the gaps.
More on the Great Lakes ice can be viewed at the link provided by the Minnesota Climatology Working Group.
The outlook extending well into the month of March is not promising for milder temperatures.
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For amusement value, I post this output of temperatures forecast at midnight on March 11 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Forecast System model. This likely will not be very amusing if the forecast is accurate.
