Flood watch issued for rapid snow melt this week
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We're about to witness a dramatic transformation across the Upper Midwest this week.
Minnesota looks like an icy alien world from space in NOAA's MODIS Terra 1,000-meter resolution visible image today. Deep snowpack enhances the outline of rivers and lakes across Minnesota.
Extensive ice cover on Lake Superior is visible from space.
Instant spring
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We're about to feel a rapid warming trend this week. Southerly winds spike temperatures into the 40s as soon as Tuesday afternoon. The magnitude of warmth in our inbound air mass may push temperatures to the 50-degree mark across parts of Minnesota by Wednesday afternoon.
My read is that the temperature output below could be a few degrees too conservative by Wednesday.
Spring is not far away. Highs in the 60s make it as far southeast Iowa Wednesday.
March Rain Ahead
The surge of warmth this week is courtesy of an inbound storm system pulling up warmer air from the Gulf of Mexico. The cold side of the storm will produce heavy snow in the eastern Dakotas and western Minnesota. Eastern Minnesota may pick up a couple snowy inches on the backside Thursday as colder air returns.
The Canadian model handled last weekend's storm system well. Here's the sequence of events Tuesday to Thursday this week via the Canadian model.
Flood Watch
The Twin Cities National Weather Service is getting ahead of possible localized flooding this week. A flood watch kicks in Wednesday.
Including the cities of St Cloud, Foley, Elk River, Montevideo,
Willmar, Litchfield, Monticello, Minneapolis, Blaine, St Paul,
Stillwater, Granite Falls, Olivia, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chaska,
Shakopee, Hastings, Hudson, River Falls, Prescott, Menomonie,
Durand, Chippewa Falls, and Eau Claire
343 PM CDT Mon Mar 11 2019
...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
THURSDAY EVENING...
The National Weather Service in Twin Cities/Chanhassen has issued
a * Flood Watch for portions of Minnesota and west central
Wisconsin, including the following areas, in Minnesota, Anoka,
Benton, Carver, Chippewa, Dakota, Hennepin, Kandiyohi, McLeod,
Meeker, Ramsey, Renville, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Stearns,
Washington, Wright, and Yellow Medicine. In west central
Wisconsin, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, and St.
Croix.
* From Wednesday afternoon through Thursday evening
* Snow melt and rainfall in poor drainage areas.
* Street flooding and ponding of water in low water crossings.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Flood Watch means there is a potential for flooding based on
current forecasts. Clear the snow and ice away from your storm
drains before Wednesday.
Here's the view from the NWS La Crosse on southeast Minnesota's flood potential.
Here's the Canadian model precip output.
Stay tuned.