The snow from the afternoon officially gave Rochester (Where official climatology numbers are kept for the area) more snow through the 5th of Feb than we had all of Last Winter.

 
Here are some totals from around the area from Tuesday (2/5)

IOWA

...ALLAMAKEE...
WAUKON                         1.0 IN    
LANSING 4SE                    0.4 IN    

...CHICKASAW...
NEW HAMPTON                    0.5 IN    
IONIA 2W                       T IN      

...CLAYTON...
MONONA WWTP                    0.5 IN    
GUTTENBERG DAM 10              0.4 IN    
VOLGA 1NE                      0.3 IN    
ELKADER 6SSW                   0.2 IN    
EDGEWOOD                       0.2 IN    

...FAYETTE...
CLERMONT                       0.4 IN    
FAYETTE                        T IN    

...FLOYD...
CHARLES CITY                   0.2 IN    

...HOWARD...
CRESCO 1NE                     0.6 IN    
ELMA                           T IN      

...MITCHELL...
ST ANSGAR                      0.2 IN    
OSAGE                          T IN      

...WINNESHIEK...
CALMAR                         0.5 IN    
4 S SATTRE                     T IN      

MINNESOTA

...DODGE...
MANTORVILLE                    3.5 IN    
2 ESE MANTORVILLE              1.0 IN    
KASSON                         0.5 IN    
2 SSE CLAREMONT                0.5 IN    
2 SSE CLAREMONT                0.5 IN    

...FILLMORE...
PETERSON 1S                    2.7 IN   
LANESBORO                      1.4 IN   
2 SSE PILOT MOUND              0.7 IN    

...HOUSTON...
RENO 3SW                       2.1 IN    
SPRING GROVE 4N                1.0 IN    
2 ENE WILMINGTON               0.2 IN    

...MOWER...
ELKTON                         1.5 IN    
AUSTIN                         1.2 IN    
GRAND MEADOW                   0.5 IN    
AUSTIN WASTE WATER TREATMENT F 0.4 IN   

...OLMSTED...
ROCHESTER                      2.5 IN    
ROCHESTER AP 2NE               2.3 IN    
PINE ISLAND 2S                 2.2 IN    
1 SE ROCHESTER                 2.0 IN    
ORONOCO                        1.8 IN   
BYRON 4 NORTH                  1.8 IN    
ELGIN 2SSW                     1.3 IN  

...WABASHA...
THEILMAN 1SSW                  3.5 IN    
MAZEPPA 5SE                    2.5 IN    
WABASHA                        1.2 IN   

...WINONA...
4 SW ELBA                      3.3 IN    
WINONA                         2.0 IN   
ALTURA 5W                      1.4 IN    
TREMPEALEAU DAM 6              1.0 IN    
LA CRESCENT DAM 7              1.0 IN   
MINNESOTA CITY DAM 5           0.5 IN  
GOODVIEW                       0.5 IN    
LEWISTON                       0.5 IN    
WINONA DAM 5A                  0.4 IN    

WISCONSIN

...ADAMS...
MONROE CENTER 1E               T IN     

...BUFFALO...
ALMA DAM 4                     0.5 IN    

...CLARK...
OWEN 2N                        0.3 IN    
NEILLSVILLE 3ESE               T IN      

...CRAWFORD...
LYNXVILLE DAM 9                0.5 IN    
STEUBEN 4SE                    0.5 IN    
DESOTO 1SE                     0.4 IN   
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN               0.4 IN   

...GRANT...
LANCASTER 4WSW                 0.4 IN   

...JACKSON...
HATFIELD DAM                   0.1 IN    
MATHER 3NW                     T IN    

...LA CROSSE...
LA CROSSE NWS                  1.7 IN    
LA CROSSE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT    1.5 IN    
LA CROSSE 4NNW                 0.5 IN    
2 NW ONALASKA                  0.4 IN

Posted under climate, Snow Totals, weather, winter, winter weather

First off, we have to acknowledge the groundhog’s forecast to see what we can expect going forward.  I know there are many scattered across the country, but good ole Punxsutawney Phil is the only one of merit in my opinion.  With that said, statistics show that he’s only right 39 percent of the time.  Naturally I disagree with Phil this time around, especially after the seven day forecast the KTTC Precision Weather Team has put together.  It includes multiple chances for accumulating snow through next weekend.  For the latest 7 day forecast check out KTTC.COM/Weather or download our new APP; just search KTTC in the APP store.  Anyway, Phil didn’t see his shadow so that means according to him spring is coming early.  I say not so fast!

Now if you checked out the 7 day, you see a lot of flakes on it.  That is because we are in a set-up that produces Alberta Clippers.  These storms originate in Alberta, Canada and are fast moving systems that bring light snow to areas they pass by.  We will stay in this pattern through the middle of the week.  That will give us the opportunity to see several inches of snow by Friday.

After 4-5 Clippers come through by the end of the work week, we are watching something potentially bigger for the weekend.  Details are too hazy at this point to pin things down, but something looks to affect the area over the weekend. Stay Tuned!

Posted under Alberta Clipper, winter, winter weather

Our January thaw has ended, our snow pack is gone, but Winter is not over yet.  While it doesn’t look like that huge storm is on the horizon yet, our pattern has changed, and is in the process of settling in to a much colder one.

The graphic below shows where we stand (our pattern) currently.  The jet-stream is heading south and so is the cold air from Canada.  The jet-stream doesn’t look to be coming back north anytime soon either, meaning we will stay on the cold side of things for a while as well.

Pattern as of 1/13/2013 – Cold has replaced last weeks warm-up

Over the next week or so, a ridge of high pressure looks like it will build off the west coast of the United States.  As the ridge bulges north into Canada out west, the trough we are currently under will continue to sink to south allowing even colder air to spill into the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes.

Pattern will likely support an outbreak of Arctic air for third week of Jan.

Here is a look at just how cold the air is up in northern Canada.  This air could be paying us a visit within the next ten days.  Now this airmass would modify somewhat as it drifts south into our area.  If there was snow on the ground, the airmass would be insulated much better on it’s trip southward.  What I’m trying to say is that this air will likely warm up a bit before it gets here.

Cold air hanging out in northern Canada

So about our snow chances.  There is a chance we could have a little bit of snow on the ground before this possible Arctic Blast visits us.  It likely won’t be much, but this same pattern is conducive to producing “Alberta Clippers”; those fast moving light snow producing storms that occasionally swing by in the Winter.  We could see a couple of them before the weekend, but the tracks of these systems are hard to pin down this far out.

Set-up will support “Clipper” development

Posted under climate, Cold, weather, winter weather

6:30pm: Not much new to report here. It’s snowing. Totals still on track as far as I can tell right now. I’ll have an updated forecast after 8pm this evening in case anything looks different.

4:25pm: A few snowflakes should begin to fall between 5-5:30pm here in Rochester…earlier to the west and later to the east. Pockets of heavy snow will become more likely after 7pm. This snow will be enough to slow-up travel tonight into Saturday morning.

3:05pm: Snow is underway west of I-35. Heavy snow being reported at times. I’m bumping forecast totals up slightly to 3-5″ by Saturday morning and wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple locations come in a little higher. This will be a light and fluffy, easy to shovel snowfall.

Posted under winter weather

It’s not looking too bad if you’re a snow lover.  Take a look at the graphic on the left – the most recent snowfall (Fri night/Sat AM) is on the left; what’s now on the ground is on the right.

We’ve seen a couple of Alberta Clippers move through, and they are the ones held responsible for this. They’re quick movers, and don’t have a lot of moisture content, so they typically don’t bring us high snowfall amounts. They do, quite frequently, bring us a couple of fluffy inches, and usually colder air behind them.

We have another one on the way that will bring 1-2″ on Sunday; and another one on Tuesday. That one will interact with a stronger southern system, and could bring several inches of snow close to the area. We’ll be keeping our eyes on it – in the meantime, enjoy these little snowfalls.

Posted under KTTC, weather