We didn’t pick up any snow as an Arctic cold front sliced through the area on Saturday, but it sure made it’s presence felt in other ways.  Wind gusts around the area topped 50mph in a lot  of spots.   Here’s a look at a select few from Saturday afternoon/evening.

Behind a cold front temperatures drop, but with this Arctic cold front Saturday afternoon, temperatures fell off a cliff.  The highs made their way into the 40s early, and by the evening, the wind chills were in the teens below zero.  Here is a timeline as the temps dropped Saturday.

Arctic air will continue to pour into the area over the next several days.  The Upper Air Pattern shows the warmer air in the west indicated by the orange and yellows and the bitter cold coming out of Canada by the darker purples.  The “Polar Vortex” is in play this time around.  You can clearly see the closed doughnut hole in southern Canada which represents the center of it.  It usually hangs out in northern Canada, but has drifted south supplying the eastern two thirds of the country with Arctic air.  The coldest air in this part of the world is found under that Polar Vortex.

In my opinion this Arctic outbreak is extremely impressive.  We will likely see afternoon highs the coldest we have seen in over four years and we are doing it without snow on the ground.  Snow acts as a refrigerator and helps the atmosphere cool much faster when we have a good base on the ground.  We could be flirting with records if we had some snow.  While it is going to be extremely cold over the next week and especially over the next couple of days, it could be MUCH colder if we had some snow on the ground.

Here is just a list of where this cold stands in perspective with the record for the day and the record all time.  It was pretty chilly back in the 1800s!  While we won’t be as cold as the temperatures with the actual air temperature, wind chills Monday and Tuesday morning could be in that ball park!  Stay warm.  It only takes 30 min or so to get frostbite with exposed skin with these dangerous wind chills!

Posted under just cool, weather, wind, wind chill, winter

We’re in for quite a roller coaster ride in our local weather over the next few days as unseasonably warm air and then an arctic blast will make their way into our weather picture.  Strangely enough, we start things off with a very quiet, typical mid January day today with a slight breeze, some sunshine, and high temperatures in the 20s.  After this, however, it’ll be far from typical January weather for a couple of days as a storm system north of us kicks up some strong southwest winds during the day and with abundant sunshine, works to pull in some really mild air.  High temperatures Friday will be in the low to mid 40s which will be closer to a record high than the seasonably cold 20s that would be closer to average.  There will be some snow showers or flurries early in the days as the warm front moves through and then again Saturday as a potent cold front approaches from the northwest behind that storm system.   Saturday will be windy and warmer than normal to start before the arctic air blows in during the afternoon and evening.  Temperatures will drop like a rock in the evening Saturday and then not recorver much Sunday with more snow showers possible.  The coldest air from northern Canada will linger through Monday and Tuesday before warmer, more seasonable weather returns for the middle of the upcoming week.

Temperatures will begin their climb early Friday and then drop off dramatically late Saturday.

Posted under Cold, 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

Last Winter we couldn’t buy snow and cold, but this year is shaping up to be a little different.  We have our snow cover back, we got our White Christmas, and as we head through the first week of January we are going to get our bitter cold.

All of last Winter we had 20.6″ of snow fall in Rochester.  To date at the Rochester International Airport, where  all official  snowfall information is taken, we’ve seen 14.5″.  Things are definitely a bit different around here thus far when you compare it to the crazy and unusual Winter we had last year.   Here is a comparison from this winter so far to last years winter through December 29th.

We have doubled the snowfall from this point last year

Here is another perspective.  It wasn’t just warm and dry on northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, it was warm and dry everywhere.  The next two graphics tell that story.  The first is the snow cover on December 29th of 2011 and the second is the snow cover as of December 29th 2012 across North America.   The difference is EYE-POPPING.   The white on the maps below indicate where there is snow.

December 29th 200 North America Snow Cover

As mentioned things have changed big time, especially in the lower 48.  There is snow on the ground as far south as Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

North America Snow Cover as of Dec. 29th 2012

It doesn’t look like we will add to the snow pack over the next several days, but the Arctic will pay us a visit bringing MUCH colder air to Iowa and Minnesota.

Posted under climate, KTTC, minnesota, weather, winter, winter weather

An arctic cold front swung through the region last night, drawing in some much colder air for us today as afternoon temperatures will be a full 10 to 15° colder than Monday’s and wind chills will mainly stay below zero.  This current cold spell is expected to linger through the weekend, so we’re going to have to bundle up and try our best to stay warm with temperatures that will, in most cases, reach the only single digits for afternoon highs while overnight temperatures will be below zero in most spots through Sunday.  Ironically, this cold front is pushing through the region on the day our climate numbers begin to bump up a bit (theoretically speaking that is) and the average high temperature in Rochester goes from 19° as it’s been for the past 10 days or so to 20° today.  Hey, it’s not a lot, but a sign of improvement…or hope.  Another item to be excited about is the length of daylight.  Our sunset today is going to be AFTER 5:00 PM for the first time since November! 

Today's sunset is after 5:00 for the first time since November 6th, the last day of Central Daylight Time.

Posted under climate