Christmas rainstorm? Wettest year on record possible
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Just when you though to was safe to enjoy a real Minnesota winter. Over the river and through the woods might be on a jet ski this Christmas.
The big weather talk at Christmas family gatherings could be a Christmas rainstorm.
Mild again
Milder than average weather returns to Minnesota this week. Temperatures hover 5 to 10 degrees warmer than average most of this week before Christmas. That means highs in the 30s and lows in the 20s. Freeze, thaw, repeat.
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Freeze-thaw
Temps pulse either side of freezing this week across the Upper Midwest. Watch the end of the loop, as warm air surges north on the warm side of an increasingly likely Christmas weekend rain/snow storm.
Ice jam weather
One side effect of extreme cold and sudden thaws? Ice jams on your local river. Keep an eye out for rapid changes in river levels this week.
Christmas rain?
Did I just type that out loud? File this under still too early to express high confidence, but sloppy slushy wet now looks more likely than white on Christmas Day.
Monday's Euro model now agree with NOAA's GFS model, rain is a distinct possibility for Minnesota on Christmas Day. The Euro model output cranks out nearly an inch of heavy rain for MSP on Christmas Day.
Temps below in Celsius.
A deep and powerful low pressure storm winds up Christmas Day over the upper Midwest. The latest tracks favor a western route, which would pull up enough mild air to change precip to all rain over a big chunk of Minnesota Sunday.
The Land of 10,000 Lakes could turn into one big sloppy puddle if we get an inch of rain on top of deep snow cover Christmas Day. This could get interesting.
Stay tuned.
Wettest year on record at MSP?
Some Minnesota towns like Waseca have already bagged 2016 as the wettest year on record. If we pick up .90" of moisture this weekend, it will push MSP Airport over the top for the wettest year on record.
Climate Cast: Climate stories from the twitterverse
TLDR. In an effort to avoid the short internet attention span here are a few story links that caught my eye. Hopefully this can keep the post from entering the "too long didn't read" zone.
Earth 2016: Unprecedented 3rd consecutive warmest year on record globally
Arctic report card: Weirdly warm year in 2016
Antarctica ice watch
Solar boom hits new milestone
Coal still fading