Normally we wouldn’t even be talking about the seasonal snowfall totals this far into May because the last of our measurable snow would have occurred weeks or even months ago, but because of our crazy spring that has featured 41.7 inches since of snow officially since March first (the start of “meteorological spring”) we’re posting this now.  The huge snow storm last week produced enough snow in two days to push us into fourth place overall for annual snowfall.  We received 14.0 inches on Thursday in what turned out to be the fourth snowiest single day of measurable snowfall in Rochester’s history and then another half inch fell on Friday in a secondary wave, pushing us into fourth place on that list.  The National Weather Service adjusted the official total earlier this week from 0.3 inches on Friday to 0.5 inches, a small change that made a big difference in our statistical standing. 

An unusually cold and snowy spring pushed Rochester into the top ten chart for annual snowfall. 57.1 inches fell after January.

Given that high temperatures in the 50s, 60s, 70s and possibly 80s are being forecast for the next couple of weeks, we’re thinking snowfall is finished for the season, but we then again we thought that last month too, so stay tuned…and keep your fingers crossed that spring is here to stay!

Posted under snowfall amounts, spring

We’re in the midst of a very slow warming trend that is going to take us close to the seasonal averages in terms of temperatures in the region over the next few days.  Sunshine and south winds today are working to push the mercury up into the 40s this afternoon for the first time in the young month of April and it looks like a shift in our overall pattern will keep that type of temperature scheme around into the weekend.   A weak cold front will move in from the northwest late tonight and early tomorrow, bringing some sprinkles or brief, light showers, but nothing too unusual is expected.  The upper air pattern will begin to make that change this weekend as the jet stream sinks southward in the western part of the country and will begin to send pieces of energy in the form of a couple of storm systems northeastward into our region.  The end result will be a series of rain chances along with more seasonably mild weather for the weekend and most of next week.  High temperatures look to reach into the 40s to near 50 degrees through the upcoming week, just a few degrees shy of what we consider to be normal for this time of the year.

Rain chances will spread northeastward across the region Friday night and Saturday and then again late Sunday night into Monday and during the day Tuesday.

Posted under spring

The rain wasn’t much Saturday morning and afternoon, but combine that with the ongoing thaw and frozen ground and it has been enough to send some area rivers and streams into minor flood stage.  Be on the lookout for water rises on most area waterways and minor flooding, especially in the flood prone areas.  It is important to note that we are NOT looking at anything similar to the flooding of 2010 or 2007, but water is expected to rise to or remain in minor flood stage through Sunday afternoon/evening thanks to the snow melt/ice jamming.  Below you will find a few graphs of that contain flood stages and the forecasts for the rivers over the next several hours.

Posted under flooding, spring, weather

…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

…Meteorological Spring, that is – from March 1st through May 31st. Thanks to NWS La Crosse for compiling the following info!

“This spring surpassed the spring of 1977 for the warmest ever in Rochester, MN.  This was mainly a result of the record warm March.  The spring precipitation was normal and the snowfall tied 2010 for the least snow.  The latter is not too surprising since over 70 percent (72.5 percent) of the normal spring snow falls during March.  More details on these statistics can be found below.” -NWS La Crosse

Temperatures – Warmest Spring Ever

“From March 1st through May 31st, Rochester International Airport had an average temperature of 53.8 degrees.  This was 8.1 degrees above the normal of 45.7 degrees.  This was the warmest spring ever in Rochester.  The previous record was 52.1 degrees in 1977.  The table below lists the top 10 warmest springs in Rochester MN.” – NWS La Crosse

            Warmest Springs
in Rochester MN
1886-2012

Average
Rank    Temperature    Year
—-    ———–    —-
1     53.9 degrees   2012
2     52.1 degrees   1977
3     50.1 degrees   2010
4     49.3 degrees   1987
5     48.8 degrees   1985
6     48.7 degrees   1946
7     47.9 degrees   2000
47.9 degrees   1910
9     47.8 degrees   2006
10     47.7 degrees   2007
47.7 degrees   1998

The table below contains the monthly temperatures and their departures from normal for the spring of 2012.

           Spring 2012 Temperatures
in Rochester MN

Average            Departure
Month        Temperature         from Normal
—–        ———–         ———–
March       49.1 degrees       +16.7 degrees - Warmest Ever
April       49.1 degrees        +2.4 degrees - 15th Warmest
May         63.3 degrees        +5.2 degrees - 4th Warmest

Spring      53.8 degrees        +8.1 degrees – Warmest Ever

• The average high temperature was 64.3 degrees.  This was 8.9 degrees above the normal of 55.4 degrees.  This was the warmest ever.  The previous record was 62.8 degrees in 1977.
• The average low temperature was 43.3 degrees.  This was 7.3 degrees above the normal of 36.0 degrees.  This was the warmest ever.  The previous record was 41.3 degrees in 1977.
• The daily temperatures averaged above normal on 66 days (71.7 percent), below normal on 23 days (25.0 percent), and normal on 3 days (3.3 percent).
• With April having the same average temperature as March, this became the first spring to have this occur. 
• The highest temperature of the spring was 92 degrees on May 18th.
• The coldest temperature of the spring was 11 degrees on March 4th.

Additionally, this season’s snowfall (only a trace in Rochester) tied 2010 for the least amount of snow in meteorological spring. The following info is also courtesy of NWS La Crosse.

Snowfall – Tied for the Least Amount Ever

From March 1st through May 31st, the snow observer near Rochester International Airport recorded just a trace of snow. This was 12.0 inches below the normal of 12.0 inches.  This tied the spring of 2010 for the least amount of snow during a spring. The table below lists the top 10 snowless springs in Rochester, MN.

            Snowless Springs
in Rochester MN
1893-2012

Total
Rank      Snowfall    Year
—-      ——–    —-
 1        Trace      2012
Trace      2010
3      0.2 inches   1981
4      0.7 inches   1990
5      0.8 inches   1968
6      1.3 inches   1946
7      1.8 inch     2009
8      2.0 inches   1986
9      2.5 inches   1958
10      2.8 inches   1914

The table below contains the monthly snowfall totals and their departures from normal for the spring of 2012.

             Spring 2012 Snowfall
in Rochester MN

Snowfall           Departure
Month            Total            from Normal
—–        ————         ———–
March           Trace             -8.7 inches
April           Trace             -3.3 inches
May           0.0 inches           0.0 inches

Spring        0.5 inches         -12.0 inches

This spring was also the warmest on record for recording stations across southern to central MN.

Posted under Records, spring

Over the last week, pretty much every day someone was seeing some type of severe weather.  With that severe weather came a lot of beneficial rain.  Every day so far (Through the first 6 days) we have seen at least a trace of rain, with 4 of those 6 days being above .25 inches. (Amounts coming from the Rochester International Airport.)

Below is graphic of the state of Minnesota showing the clear deficit  in SE MN from last August til the end of April.  Even with the wet second half of April, we were just about 8 or so inches in the hole, but after a crazy wet start to May, things will be a bit better by the next issuance of this graphic by the DNR.

Heavy thunderstorms once again rolled through area late Saturday night into early Sunday morning and produced more heavy rain.  Below are some of the totals from the last 24 hours. (There are errors at both the Austin ans Albert Lea reporting sites.  Both sites picked up around .30 inches of rain)

Here is the breakdown heading into last summer.  The graphic shows it all and it is clear that tables are turning in a positive manner.  Through the last seven and a half months we have picked up only 8.8 inches of rain.  Over the last 24 days, we have picked up over half of what we got in about the last 8 months combined.

Rainfall Comparison

Posted under climate, history, minnesota, rainfall, rainfall amounts, spring, weather

It is definitely nice to see a nice change of pace.  Through much of the summer dating back to August we couldn’t buy rain.  Over the last week or so we have certainly seen the return of plentiful rain.  The graphic below shows the break down of the last month and the start of April and how they compare to the recent rains that have graced the area.  It is obvious to see that our 8 day stretch where we saw at least a trace of rain was more than all of March and almost the first half of April combined.  In fact about 35 percent of the rain (liquid equivalent with snow in winter) fell during those 8 days.   The numbers were taken at the Rochester International Airport.

Rainfall Amounts

Even though we have had all of this rain as of late, we are still considered to be in a severe drought with our deficit from last August still running about 8 inches.  With that said obviously any rain is good rain to help this situation, but we would like to see more.  Here is the current drought monitor from the USDA.

Minnesota:

Iowa:

Posted under climate, Drought, rainfall, rainfall amounts, spring

As strong Canadian high pressure settles into the region from the north, scouring out our clouds and drawing in some drier air, we’re looking at a perfect situation for a colder night in our area.  In fact, a Freeze Watch has been issued for the majority of our viewing area meaning lows will be around freezing and some locations may drop into the upper 20s, allowing for a hard freeze to affect early spring vegetation.  Here’s the official statement from the National Weather Service:

WITH LIGHTER WINDS AND COOLER AIR OVER THE REGION TONIGHT...
FREEZING TEMPERATURES COULD BE MORE WIDESPREAD. CONDITIONS LOOK
VERY FAVORABLE FOR FREEZING TEMPERATURES NORTH AND EAST OF
INTERSTATE 94 TONIGHT...THEREFORE...A FREEZE WARNING HAS BEEN
ISSUED IN THIS AREA. FREEZE WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT ELSEWHERE...
WHICH MAY BE UPGRADED TO WARNINGS LATER TODAY IF CONFIDENCE IS
HIGHER THAT FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL OCCUR.

Some spots, especially low lying areas, will drop into the 20s tonight, meaning some vegetation may be damaged by the cold.

Posted under spring

We are continuing the trend from our extremely mild Winter into the second week of March.  Astronomical Spring arrives in in 10 days, but it will be feeling like spring, and late spring at that before it officially rolls on through.  The jet stream (the dividing line between relatively warm and cold air), like much of the winter, will be staying to our north allowing warm air from the south to hang out in the Upper Midwest.

Jet Stream staying to our north allowing for warm air to stick around

Today (Saturday) temperatures made it into the low 60s for the second time in the last few days.  On average we don’t see 60s until later on in April.  On May 1st the average temperature in Rochester is 62°, so we are about a month and a half ahead of schedule temperature wise.

The average temperature on May 1st is 62°

In the coming days ahead we will likely see temperatures feeling more like the end of May and even early June.  That will no doubt threaten records in a number of locations.  Here are a few that have the potential to fall over the next several days.  These are the records, not the forecast.  To see the seven day forecast check out our website http://www.kttc.com/weather

These are the standing records for a few places that have the potential to be broken this upcoming week.

Posted under climate, history, Records, spring

I’m going to break down the science behind this extended sunshine.   We are expecting sunshine and dry weather to persist at least into Wednesday.  The next chance of rain will come by on Thursday and it will be a slight chance at that.  So why so sunny?  We are currently in a blocking pattern in the atmosphere.  Think of this as an unstoppable force up against an immovable object.  This is the current set-up in the atmosphere:

This set up is known in meteorology as the omega block, in the next image you will be able to visualize why.  Air flow around a low pressure system is counter counterclockwise. For a high pressure system it is just the opposite.  It is clockwise.  Think of these systems as gears in a clock.  The high (The blue H on the map above) is being pushed down, by the low pressure on the right, but it is also being pushed up by the low on the left.  Therefore nothing is able to move and everything gets blocked.  Long story short, the high pressure stays where its at…over us for a couple of days.  The pattern will stay like this until one of the systems starts to weaken.  The east and west coasts are getting the short end of the stick on this one.  They will see cooler temps and rainy conditions while us in the midwest will see sunshine!!   Sometimes these blocking patterns can last over 10 days!!

This is why this pattern is called the omega block:

This is a look of the pattern in the middle of the atmosphere.  The orange colors represent warm air and the yellows and greens represent cool air.  Notice the two areas of cooler air to the east and west.  That is where our two lows will be..and notice the warm section in the central part of the country…that is out high.  The shape of the warm air almost looks like the Greek letter “omega”.  The “omega” is pictured below.

Hope you all enjoyed this meteorology lesson!  Enjoy the sunshine!!

Posted under atmospheric phenomenon, just cool, spring, weather