May 2, 2013 Snowfall Totals | May 2, 2013 Snow Viewer Pictures

Snowfall of May 2, 2013 in Rochester reached a total of 14.0″, which ranks very high in a number of record rankings for Rochester. This has bumped our seasonal snowfall total to 73.5″. Look how that number fits within the following records.

Record for one-day snowfall in Rochester
1) 19.8″ March 18, 2005
2) 15.4″ January 22, 1982
3) 15.0″ December 11, 2010
4) 14.0″ May 2, 2013
—tie—March 30, 1934
—tie—April 20, 1893
6) 13.5″ February 27, 1893
7) 13.0″ April 26, 1988
8) 12.0″ November 30, 1934
9) 10.8″ March 10, 1956
10) 10.6″ November 25, 1952

May Snowfall
1) 14.0″ 2013
2) 2.0″ 1944
3) 1.0″ 1893
4) 0.7″ 1954
5) 0.3″ 1967
6) 0.2″ 1989
1976
1973
1966

Seasonal Snowfall
1) 84.7″ 1996-97
2) 77.5″ 1950-51
3) 74.5″ 1961-62
4) 73.6″ 1951-52
5) 73.5″ 2012-13
6) 73.3″ 1978-79
7) 70.5″ 2010-11
8) 68.6″ 1984-85
9) 68.0″ 1881-82
10) 66.3″ 1887-88

More from NWS La Crosse

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
807 PM CDT THU MAY 2 2013

...UNPRECEDENTED SNOWFALL FOR ROCHESTER MINNESOTA... 

WHAT A STORM FOR THE RECORD BOOKS. THE INFORMATION BELOW SHOWCASES 
HOW THIS SNOWSTORM RANKS FROM A MAY PERSPECTIVE...AND ALSO THE 
ENTIRE CALENDAR YEAR. 
------

TO PUT THIS SNOWSTORM IN ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE...TODAYS SNOWFALL IN 
ROCHESTER SHATTERS THE COMBINED TOTAL FOR ALL PREVIOUS MAY 
MEASURABLE SNOW EVENTS. SINCE 1886...THERE WERE 10 MEASURABLE MAY 
EVENTS...FOR A TOTAL OF 4.3 INCHES. TODAYS SNOWFALL IS OVER 3 TIMES 
THAT.

Posted under Records, Rochester

Thanks to my friend Jeff at NWS La Crosse for these statistics!

The coldest first day of spring on record in Rochester, based on high temperature for the day, is 10 degrees. 10 degrees! Uff da. We’re going for a high of 17 degrees Wednesday afternoon, which would be the coldest 1st day of spring in Rochester since 1965.

Here is a list of the top 10 coldest first days (based on high temperature) of spring in Rochester.

•  1) 10 degrees     1965     March 20
•  2) 15 degrees     1951     March 21
•  3) 17 degrees     1892     March 19
•  4 ) 23 degrees     1986     March 20
•         23 degrees     1933     March 20
•  6 ) 24 degrees     1959     March 21
•  7 ) 27 degrees     1983     March 20
•         27 degrees     1955     March 21
•         27 degrees     1932     March 20
• 10) 28 degrees     1974     March 20
•        28 degrees     1943     March 21

Posted under Records, Rochester

…and we’re only 12 days into the month!

Courtesy NWS La Crosse

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
547 AM CDT TUE MAR 12 2013

...TENTH SNOWIEST MARCH IN ROCHESTER MINNESOTA...

THROUGH MARCH 11TH...THE OFFICIAL NWS SNOW OBSERVER NEAR ROCHESTER 
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HAS RECORDED 18.1 INCHES OF SNOW THIS MONTH.  
THIS IS THE SNOWIEST MARCH SINCE 2005 WHEN 23.0 INCHES FELL IN THE 
MONTH OF MARCH. THE SNOWIEST MARCH OCCURRED BACK IN 1951 WHEN 35.1 INCHES 
FELL. THE TABLE BELOW LISTS THE TOP 10 SNOWIEST MARCHES IN ROCHESTER.

          SNOWIEST MARCHES
          IN ROCHESTER MN 
             1897-2013

   RANK      SNOW TOTAL       YEAR
   ----      ----------       ----

     1       35.1 INCHES      1951
     2       25.2 INCHES      1985
     3       23.0 INCHES      2005
     4       21.2 INCHES      1989
     5       18.9 INCHES      1961
     6       18.8 INCHES      1997
             18.8 INCHES      1956
     8       18.5 INCHES      1952
     9       18.4 INCHES      1940
    10       18.1 INCHES      2013

DURING A TYPICAL MARCH...8.7 INCHES OF SNOW FALLS.

Posted under Records, Rochester, Snow Totals, spring

Courtesy NWS La Crosse. Thanks!

RECORD EVENT REPORT 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
134 PM CST TUE MAR 05 2013

...SNOWFALL RECORDS ESTABLISHED TODAY...

THE FOLLOWING COOPERATIVE OBSERVING SITES ESTABLISHED NEW DAILY 
SNOWFALL RECORDS TODAY /MARCH 5/.

                   NEW RECORD                         RECORDS     
  LOCATION          SNOWFALL+      PREVIOUS RECORD     BEGIN
  --------         ----------      ---------------    -------
BYRON              6.2 INCHES    4.5 INCHES IN 2004     1993
ELGIN 2SSW IA      5.9 INCHES    5.0 INCHES IN 1984     1940
HARMONY MN         7.0 INCHES    5.0 INCHES IN 1976     1940
IONIA 2W           4.0 INCHES    2.8 INCHES IN 2003     2002
LAKE CITY MN       6.0 INCHES    5.0 INCHES IN 1976     1896
MINNESOTA CITY MN  5.0 INCHES    5.0 INCHES IN 1981     1939
THEILMAN MN        7.1 INCHES    4.7 INCHES IN 2004     1938

+ DAILY SNOWFALL TOTALS RUN FROM 7 AM MARCH 4TH TO 7 AM MARCH 5TH

Posted under Records, Rochester, Snow Totals

It has been a long time since we have talked about something being above average other than the temperature.  The February of 2013 is changing that though.  Through February so far we have had 15″ of snow fall at the Rochester International Airport.  That was jump started by day after day after day of Clippers to start the month and then recently with the biggest snowstorm we have had in the last two winters.  Climatologically speaking,  February is the least snowy of the snowy months, but during the Winter of 12/13 it has been the snowiest.  Not only has it been the snowiest this Winter, we have actually cracked the top 10 snowiest for the month of February.  Here’s the list of five through ten.

In the coming days we will have a chance to climb up this list a little higher.  We are watching a large system that will feature the heaviest snow staying well to the south and east of our area, but come Tuesday and Wednesday, we will have a chance to be scraped by this system.

This is how the storm will look on Monday evening.  This system will likely bring a full blown Blizzard to parts of the plain states.  The track again will stay away from us, most likely putting Chicago in the bulls eye after slamming portions of Kansas and Missouri with over a foot of snow.  Our chances will be Tuesday and Wednesday and the intensity will be MUCH lighter.  With that said, a jog in the track northward would change things drastically so we are still monitoring the track of this one.

February has definitely brought active weather back to Minnesota.  Hopefully this stretch will continue to help replenish area streams and rivers.  The recent liquid will help somewhat to do that, but we need this active weather to continue into spring to help put a dent in the drought since the ground is still frozen.  Fingers crossed, but definitely a positive sign going forward!

Posted under climate, Drought, history, minnesota, Records, weather, winter, winter weather

Thanks to my friends Jeff and Todd R. at NWS La Crosse for digging into the database for me.

Even though this past Monday’s high temperature was forecast to stay below zero, the daytime high squeaked up to 1° above zero in the afternoon. The complete lack of snowpack in southeast Minnesota offset the strength of the arctic airmass and it turned out to be a few degrees warmer than forecast. That may have been our one and only shot this winter at a day with the temperature remaining below zero.

As of today, we are only 16 days from the all-time record for consecutive days with a high temperature above zero in Rochester, MN.

Here are the top 5 streaks for most consecutive days in which the high temperature was 0 degrees or warmer. The last day in Rochester in which the temperature stayed below zero for the entire day was January 4th of 2010 when the high was -1°. Just two days prior to that, the high was -6° and low was -19° on January 2nd, 2010.

1) 1130 days – 2000-12-25 through 2004-01-28
2) 1114 days – 2010-01-05 through 2013-01-22
3) 1110 days – 1955-12-20 through 1959-01-02
4) 779 days – 1990-12-31 through 1993-02-16
5) 749 days – 2005-01-16 through 2007-02-03

By the way, the longest stretch on record in Rochester for the temperature not reaching above zero is 7 days in January of 1912, from the 2nd through the 8th of January. Had the temperature not reached just barely above zero at 2° for a high on January 9th, 1912, the single stretch would have continued through January 13th. January 1912 was also the coldest month on record in Rochester.

Posted under climate, Cold, Records, Rochester

Some other notes from the 2012 Climate Summary for Rochester

-17 daily record high temperatures
-16 daily records for highest low temperature
-0 cold weather records
-7 of 12 months in top 10 warmest
-Warmest spring on record
-2nd warmest summer on record

Posted under Records

As of Sunday morning, December 30th, our stretch without a sub-zero temperature has come to an end with a low of -2 degrees at the Rochester airport this morning.

Here’s the write up from NWS La Crosse

Number of Consecutive Days
Minimum Temperature >= 0
for Rochester MN

Run
Rank    Length             Dates
—-    ——             —–
1      343     2012-01-22 through 2012-12-29
2      333     1987-01-27 through 1987-12-25
3      329     2006-02-20 through 2007-01-14
4      328     1999-01-26 through 1999-12-19
5      320     1992-01-20 through 1992-12-04
6      312     2005-01-24 through 2005-12-01
7      310     1913-03-08 through 1914-01-11
8      307     2004-02-16 through 2004-12-18
9      305     1981-02-13 through 1981-12-14
10      304     1946-02-16 through 1946-12-16

Period of record: 1886-07-01 to 2012-12-14

Posted under Records, Rochester

As of Sunday morning, December 30th, our stretch without a sub-zero temperature has come to an end.

Here’s the write up from NWS La Crosse

Number of Consecutive Days
Minimum Temperature >= 0
for Rochester MN

                 Run
Rank    Length             Dates
       —-    ——             —–
1      343     2012-01-22 through 2012-12-29
2      333     1987-01-27 through 1987-12-25
3      329     2006-02-20 through 2007-01-14
4      328     1999-01-26 through 1999-12-19
5      320     1992-01-20 through 1992-12-04
6      312     2005-01-24 through 2005-12-01
7      310     1913-03-08 through 1914-01-11
8      307     2004-02-16 through 2004-12-18
9      305     1981-02-13 through 1981-12-14
10      304     1946-02-16 through 1946-12-16

         Period of record: 1886-07-01 to 2012-12-14

Posted under Records, Rochester

Top 10 snowiest Decembers on record in Rochester

Top 10 least snowiest Decembers in Rochester (seriously, is there a better way to word that?)

Also, we’re on day 290 without an inch or more snow in Rochester, tied for 4th longest stretch on record since 1893.

You’ll notice we haven’t made a big deal out of snow potential this weekend. I think we’re looking at keeping the record stretch going, but minor accumulations are still possible late Friday and then again late Saturday night.

Posted under Records, Rochester, winter