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