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 of all, happy first day of meteorological spring!  Even though our weather has been more or less reminiscent of March pretty much all winter long, now it’s actually official.  Taking a look at our very March-like February in Rochester, we ended up receiving less than half the normal amount of snow while rainfall was double the usual total thanks mostly to that very mild and wet storm system that brought us soaking showers on Tuesday night.  Temperatures reached into  in the 30s and 40s each day with just two exceptions last month bringing our average high to 35 degrees and a mean of 27.7 degrees, good for the seventh warmest all-time February in Rochester history.  It ended up being the second warmest winter all-time with a mean temperature of 25.5 degrees which is a degree shy of the record of 26.3 set in 1930-31.

It was the 7th warmest February in Rochester history and not particularly snowy.

Looking ahead at the weekend, we will get a slight taste of winter with some light snow showers and flurries, but little in the way of accumulation is expected.  Next week and even the longer term outlook for the first couple of weeks of March look rather mild with 40s and 50s expected.

Posted under climate

Perhaps it’s a new Monday tradition, but for the second time in as many weeks, we’re expecting some snow in our area as a late winter storm system approaches from the west.  While this won’t be a huge event, it is expected to make things a little slippery on our roads and sidewalks and given that this has been such a dry and mild winter, every storm system producing accumulating snow is considered significant.  It looks like we’ll have rain, snow, and even sleet spreading eastward across the local area through the afternoon into the evening.  Late this evening, there will be a transition to mainly just snow, but the overall totals will depend heavily on how quickly things transition to snow.  Temperatures will also be quite warm, just below freezing by tomorrow morning in most spots, meaning a lot of that snowfall will compress to slush or melt off a bit, reducing snowfall amounts.  The snow will continue through the overnight hours and then taper off in the mid morning hours Tuesday with one to three inches likely on the ground by then.

This evening and tonight's snowfall will range from one to three inches. A lot of that will melt to slush tomorrow as highs will be above freezing.

The next storm system to affect us is expected to move in for late Wednesday, starting as a mixture of rain and snow and then changing over to all snow by early Thursday with minor accumulations anticipated.   Light snow or snow showers will linger through Thursday and Friday followed by another storm system that may bring some snow for Sunday and Sunday night with some minor to moderate accumulations possible.  Temperatures will be mild for the first half of the week with a big cool down expected for Friday and the weekend.

Posted under winter weather

While the thick, low clouds and dense fog are keeping temperatures a bit cooler today, we’re still dealing with temperatures that are rather mild for February standards and it looks like this trend will carry into the weekend.  Typically this time of the year we should have high temperatures in the teens and 20s with the occasional 30 degree high every now and then, but as we experienced in January we’re instead experiencing March weather with 30 and 40 degree warmth melting our relatively thin layer of snow cover and fog is a bigger concern than accumulating snow.  That’s just a product of the bizarre pattern we’re in right now as the jet stream is keeping the really cold stuff to our north and the main storm track is on the southern branch of the jet stream.  Colorado, Nebraska, and Iowa are dealing with a large storm system along the southern branch that is bringing them several inches of snow.  With very few exceptions in the next couple of weeks, it looks like we’ll stick with the warmer temperatures and the fairly dry precipitation scenario locally.  The Climate Prediction Center’s most recent and easy to believe forecast for this month has our entire region in the “very likely” category for above normal temperatures while precipitation is a little more up in the air and looks to be cumulatively light in any case over the next few weeks.  It’s hard to pin down exactly what temperatures we’ll have all month long, but a “more of the same” approach seems to work right now with more 20s and 30s with the occasional 40 more likely than the typical 10, 15, or 20 degree highs you might expect in the dead of winter.

Here’s a look at what we normally expect in the month of February between now and the end of the month according to our 30 year climatology.  Again, it appears that we’ll be a bit above these numbers more often than not.

The temperature averages in February climb steadily. Typically we'd have to wait until the very end of the month to experience the type of pattern we're in right now with highs in the 30s.

One statistic that is certain right now is the length of daylight we’ll be experiencing in the next 26 days.  We’re going to GAIN 72 minutes each by the end of the month as that sunset will occur around 6:00 by the beginning of March.  That’s always one of the best parts of the second half of winter!

Posted under climate

We’re off to a very mild start to the week with high temperatures in the 40s in the forecast for both today and tomorrow locally while our skies look to remain fairly dry and even sunny at times.  To winter weather enthusiasts, this is just a case of “what else is new?  More bad news.”  To those who want to spend a little more time outside or have to work outside this is good news and it looks like this quiet, mild pattern will linger through Thursday at least and possibly a bit further down the road thanks to a mild jet stream pattern.  Right now the northern branch of the jet stream is to our north keeping the really cold, more seasonable arctic air bottled up in northern Canada and the southern branch is where more of the “active weather” resides and that is closer to the Gulf Coast.  We’re in the middle getting the odd weak storm system here and there, as we did over the weekend, but not getting huge amounts of snow and not experiencing a typical end to the month of January for our regional standards.

Our current upper air pattern, or jet stream, will keep our weather dry and mild to start the week.

The jet stream this weekend looks a little more active for the Midwest, possibly meaning a storm system will affect our area. Temperatures will be slightly cooler, but close to the freezing mark, meaning precipitation types may be snow or a wintry mixture in the upcoming event.

That mild, split flow jet stream pattern will continue through most of this week with just a minor change coming up over the weekend.  We’ll have to keep a close eye on a potential winter storm that may develop to our south, possibly spreading some precipitation to toward our area by Friday.  So much is up in the air right now that to give too many details would be ridiculous because we’d have to retract our statements and change the whole story every day this week until we got closer to the weekend and things looked clearer.  Right now is looks like we’ll be facing mainly a light snow/wintry mixture scenario for Friday and then a heavier, icier or rainier day on Saturday, and then a slight amount of snow on Sunday with that storm system.  We’ve had indications that it’ll stay south of us, so it may be a non factor or it may shift a bit, changing the timing of the precipitation or even the precipitation types altogether.  The bottom line is: stay tuned and expect maybe a little wintry, messy weather for Friday through Sunday.  In the meantime, temperatures will remain unseasonably mild for the next several days and while we will experience a cooling trend beyond Tuesday, we’ll be much warmer than normal through at least Sunday as highs will be in the 30s which is warmer than the usual teens or 20s that we’d typically experience this time of the year.

Posted under winter weather

A weak storm system from the west is spreading clouds and light snow across the local area today. This will be a lighter snow event for us than the past two to affect the region last Friday and Monday of this week as only about an inch of accumulation is expected for the most part. The evening commute may be a little tricky because of the potential for a few extra slick spots on the street and highways from the afternoon to early evening snow, but as long as everyone takes their time and expects a slight delay, it shouldn’t be cataclysmic. The heaviest amounts in the region look to accumulate north of Rochester toward the Twin Cities and even north of there as two inches will be possible for some locations in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

Snowfall will occur through the afternoon with a sharp drop off in intensity after sunset. Amounts will be light, with the highest totals to the north.

Behind this storm system we’ll have gusty, colder weather with some sunshine tomorrow and then a chance for a few light snow showers tomorrow night.  Accumulations tomorrow night will be light with less than half an inch expected.  We’ll have chilly sunshine and highs in the teens on Sunday with snow showers and little if any accumulation Monday.  A bigger storm system Tuesday into early Wednesday will bring a mixture of rain and snow and then some light accumulations of snow to the area.  Snow showers and flurries will be possible Thursday and Friday, so it’ll be an active pattern, but generally speaking, only light snow is expected in the next week while high temperatures look to remain quite mild in the longer term as highs will be in the lower and mid 30s from Monday through next Friday.

Posted under winter weather

Our winter so far hasn’t exactly what we consider to be typical for our area as a whole, thanks mostly to the incredibly heavy snowfall we started out with in December.  To be honest, however, things in recent weeks have begun to moderate a bit and become more seasonable.  In fact, if you look at just January and February, you’ll see that temperatures have been very close to average and snowfall amounts have been within an inch or two of what we consider “normal.”  Below is a side-by-side comparison of “normal” February weather and this year’s temperatures and precipitation totals for the month of February.  As you can see, the numbers are eerily close to where they should be, which is not always the case…in fact, it’s rare to see numbers this close to the 30 year average in any given month.  You might say February 2011 was your prototypical February!  It’s interesting to see that even though we had a couple of extremely cold spells and one really warm week, those temperatures essentially balanced out and came out to be right where you’d expect them to be in the end.  The warmest temperature in Rochester last month was 44° on the 17th and the coldest reading was -15° just a week earlier on the 10th.  Snowfall was sparse through the first 19 days of the month with just 1.1 inches falling in that period of time, but a couple of larger snow storms brought our monthly total to 9.3 inches by the end of the month, placing us an inch and a half above climate average for February.

February 2011 featured some big ups and downs, but ended up being very typical for our area overall.

Posted under climate

While we’re enjoying some mild, almost March-like weather today, we still have some wintry weather in the forecast this week, as some colder, almost January weather is expected in the coming days, including the early part of the weekend.  A weak storm system centered to our north today is working to pull in some mild air for us on those gusty south winds with a little sun also helping to keep things rather mild across the local area.  However, after this system passes to our east tonight, we’ll again be dealing with a shot of colder air for a few days.  The jet stream aloft right now is still in what we call an “active pattern” meaning more storm systems than usual are moving through the mid section of the country and we’re getting more precipitation and more of a variety of weather conditions because of this situation.  The next storm system to move in will be Friday.  We’ll have a little light snow moving in for the afternoon and especially the evening hours with that snow lingering through much of Saturday.  Totals will be minor with this system, as only an inch or two of snow is expected.  The bigger concern looks to be Sunday and Sunday night when a large storm system is expected to graze our region to the southeast and depending on how far north it gets will determine how much if any snow we get.  It’s a little early to get too specific, so for now we’re going to say there is a chance for snow Sunday and Sunday night into Monday morning.  We may end up getting several inches or we may miss out on precipitation altogether with this.  One thing seems certain at this point, and that is things will be feeling cooler for most of the next week as colder air will be parked in the Upper Midwest, so even as we head into March next week, our temperatures will still be feeling like February, or in some cases, like January.

We're under an "active" jet stream pattern right now, but the much colder air is still bottled up north.

The jet stream will remain active Sunday as a large trough and area of upper level low pressure will move into the region for the latter portion of the weekend, potentially bringing us some snow.

Posted under winter weather

Updated freezing rain/sleet/ice reports from the Feb 20-21 storm.

Here’s a look at the 2 day snowfall totals in southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and southwestern Wisconsin:

Posted under snowfall amounts

We’ve certainly experienced quite a variety of weather conditions in the first two weeks of February.  Here we are at the halfway mark in the month and we’ve felt both the chill of some brutally cold arctic air and some warm south winds that have helped us melt some snow, most of that just in the last week!  So far this month, seven days have featured subzero low temperatures, the coldest reading in Rochester being -13° in the 8th.  We’ve also been above freezing in each of the last three days (not including today) with the warmest readings being 41° on Sunday the 13th.  Snowfall has been sparse this month so far, with only 1.1″ being measured in Rochester.  The highest one day total in the first half of the month was only 0.6″ on the 6th. 

Despite the recent warm spell, temperatures have been slightly cooler than average this month while little snow has fallen.

Things will remain mild for the next couple of days as this warm air mass lingers in the region.  In fact, high temperatures will get progressively warmer through Thursday before a potent cold front will swing through the Upper Midwest, pulling some cold air in from the northwest and creating some strong northwest winds that may gust beyond 40 miles per hour.  There will also be a little snow or some light snow showers early Friday before things dry out for the latter portion of the day and for the bulk of the weekend.

Posted under climate