While we’re finally enjoying a dry day with a little sunshine in the area today, two commodities that have been lacking in our weather for just about the entire month so far, we’re still looking ahead toward a weekend storm system that may cause some more headaches for us.  Ahead of its arrival late Saturday night, we’ll enjoy a peaceful, seasonably cool Friday with a little more wind and some low 30s for Saturday…basically the calm before the storm.  However, things will begin to get more difficult for us around midnight Saturday night when a little freezing rain is expected to develop ahead of the center of low pressure to our southwest.  We may stick with freezing rain and sleet for the night, possibly until mid morning before warmer air allows us to transition to light rain as temps will be in the mid 30s.  There will still be a chance for some snow at the tail end of the storm system for us by late Sunday evening.  Accumulations may reach three or four inches in some spots locally by Monday morning when things are expected to dry out, but until the system gets a little closer, we won’t be able to pin down exactly who will get what. As you can see below, the heavier snow is expected to be to our northwest as Winter Storm Watches have been issued for a huge chunk of the Upper Midwest in advance of the system. The Twin Cities area is looking at anywhere from four or five inches to seven or eight inches, depending on the eventual track of the storm while areas to the northwest will see higher amounts, possibly as much as a foot in some locations.

Winter Storm Watches are in effect for Sunday to our north and a Blizzard Watch is in effect for western Minnesota and part of South Dakota as heavy snow and strong winds will make travel very difficult in those areas.

Posted under winter weather

After a week in the deep freeze, it looks our temperatures over the weekend will climbing nicely into the 30 degree range by Sunday.  The downside to that is instead of light snow Sunday, we’re expecting something that may be a bit more treacherous.  A storm system from the southwest will spread a wintry mixture of precipitation across the area during the day Sunday through early Sunday night, possibly coating the landscape with ice and perhaps a little light snow.  Right now it looks like things will get going in the mid morning hours with some freezing rain or sleet in the area and in the afternoon and evening there may be more of a mixed bag of precipitation types.  The National Weather Service may end up issuing some advisories for this event, so stay tuned for more on this as we go through the weekend.

The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center’s freezing rain probability map for Sunday shows a strong potential for freezing rain and the resulting ice across the entire region.

Posted under winter weather

The first part of a one-two punch in what looks to be a warm and slightly unsettled weekend weather pattern is moving through the region today.  A storm system along the U.S.-Canadian border is stirring up our winds and producing some scattered showers and thunderstorms in the central Minnesota and in parts of Wisconsin today.  There will be a slight chance that a couple of stray storms may migrate into our local area, especially the northern edge, later today.  Otherwise most of the activity with that storm system will stay away from us while bright sunshine and gusty southwest winds will be the story today with high temperatures expected to be at least 10° warmer than normal for this time of the year as readings will commonly be in the upper 80s to round out the work week.  We’ll get a break from active weather tomorrow as winds will be a bit more tame, the skies will be bright and sunny, and highs will be close to 90°.  The second part of that one-two punch will come along late Sunday as a storm system and its associated cold front will approach the region from the west, drawing in some humidity and extra heat.  We’ll have highs in the low 90s Sunday with a chance for a few late afternoon, but especially evening thunderstorms.  Some of those storms may become severe with large hail and strong winds possible.  That said, rainfall doesn’t look to be tremendously heavy in that scenario and by far the area with highest probability of severe weather will be to our north, but we’ll still have to keep an eye on the situation as large hail and strong winds will be possible in the evening and overnight period Sunday into Monday.  Stay tuned!

Severe Weather Outlook for Sunday: We're facing the prospect of severe weather late Sunday and Sunday night. The SPC has us in the slight risk for severe weather.

Posted under severe weather

Looking east from near Chester

Rainbow from Sunday night’s storms

The storms are settling down and we’re in for a quiet rest of the overnight. Most of the activity was scattered today, as expected, and the severe stuff was limited. There was one reports of wind damage (from rural Lake City) that we got word of, but more than anything, these guys were torrential rain producers (or, gullywashers…because I dig that word so much).

Posted under rainfall amounts

I met a couple this morning who hail from Mississippi originally. To them, this weather is fantastic. In their home state this time of the year, you get daily dew points in the 70s and 80s. Now that’s tropical (well, obviously).

Hey, what do you know…we’ll get a taste of that this week. Downright sticky…60s and 70s for dew points…highs near 90 to start our week. That’s when a good breeze becomes necessary…but I think we’ll have a hard time finding that.

That juicy airmass will arrive tomorrow, with a warm front and associated low pressure. Those will be responsible for generating an area of showers and t-storms for our Sunday.

Here’s the scoop on Sunday’s potential severe threat – it’ll be highlydependant on whether or not there’s sunshine at some point on Sunday. Considering that much of the area will be seeing showers during the midday hours, that’ll cut back on enhancing any instability. However, if north Iowa clears out enough during the afternoon, we could see some storms spark in the vicinity of the warm front and surface low pressure.

Keep it tuned here on Sunday! Have a great Father’s Day and First Day of Summer. Sorry it won’t be the greatest!

Posted under KTTC

We’re not expecting much in the way of snowfall tonight, but enough to probably cause some slick spots on the roads tomorrow. But – this is of concern if you are headed south and east of here (or headed back here from there). While the storm won’t bring us much more than an inch or two, Des Moines, Chicago, Madison, Milwaukee, Peoria, Detroit (to name a few) are expected to get hit a little harder. Winter Weather Advisories are out for some of those cities, with snowfall amounts around 3-5″ looking pretty popular.

Anyway – light snow tonight, even mixed in with a little bit of rain/sleet this evening. Look for around an inch of wet snow by tomorrow morning (especially points further south), with another inch or so by tomorrow evening. It’ll be blustery later on Sunday, with colder air arriving for Monday.

Posted under KTTC, weather