Wintry AM mix today, light snows this week
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
January Thaw 2015
Our January delivered this year.
35 degrees high temp at MSP last Thursday (+12 degrees vs. average)
38 degrees high temp at MSP Saturday (+ 15 degrees vs. average)
39 degrees high temp at MSP Sunday (+16 degrees vs. average)
Support Local News
When breaking news happens, MPR News provides the context you need. Help us meet the significant demands of these newsgathering efforts.
Today marks day #4 above the thawing point in the Twin Cities and the southern half of Minnesota.
An incoming upper level wave delivers a spotty wintry mix this morning, but as the wave zips east we should see the sun break out once again this afternoon across a good chunk of Minnesota. Minnesota lies on the edge of a mild Pacific air mass once again today. Southwest Minnesota basks in spring-like 40s this afternoon, while the Twin Cities reaches the mid to upper 30s once again.
It's interesting to note that while winter lite clings to Minnesota, very spring like air masses have been close by. Temps have run in the 60s as close as Topeka and Kansas City in the past few days, with 50s well into Iowa. Today features another day of unseasonable spring-like warmth south along I-35. Golf in Des Moines anyone?
Clipperville
A fast northwest flow races overhead in the upper atmosphere this week 30,000 feet above us.
That jet stream pushes a series of weak Alberta Clipper through Minnesota this week. Look for bouts of light mixed precip today, trending toward mostly snow Tuesday night.
Precip totals stay light, but we may squeeze out a snowy inch or two for parts of Minnesota this week. In other words, just enough to gum up the roads, especially Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
Here's the NAM model snowfall outlook for the next 48 hours.
Winter lite
This week feels like winter lite around Minnesota. Temps cool a bit, but still run a good 5 to 10 degrees above seasonal averages. The best shot at a snowy coating to freshen the winter landscape? Tuesday evening.
MAX/MIN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TABLE FOR MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
702 AM CST MON JAN 19 2015
VALUES REPRESENT HIGHS YESTERDAY...LOWS OVER THE LAST 12 HOURS
AND PRECIPITATION OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS
.BR MSP 0119 C DH00/TAIRZX/DH06/TAIRZP/PPDRZZ/SFDRZZ/SDIRZZ
ASOS - STATE OF MINNESOTA
WITH PRECIPITATION/SNOWFALL/SNOW DEPTH REPORTS
:
: MAX MIN SNOW SNOW
:ID LOCATION TEMP TEMP PCPN FALL DEPTH
DLH : DULUTH : 32 / 16 / T / T / 7
INL : INTERNATIONAL FALLS : 31 / -5 / 0.01/ 0.3/ 16
MSP : MINNEAPOLIS MN : 39 / 22 / 0.00/ 0.0/ 2
RST : ROCHESTER MN : 35 / 16 / 0.00/ 0.0/ 3
STC : ST CLOUD MN : 39 / 20 / T / T / 1
AXN : ALEXANDRIA MN : 35 / 20 /
GNA : GRAND MARAIS : 30 / 10/
HIB : HIBBING : 32 / 4 /
RWF : REDWOOD FALLS MN : 40 / 27 /
Snow drought
19.3" season snowfall to date at MSP Airport
-9.7" vs. average
27.3" season snowfall last winter on this date
14" snow depth at MSP 1 year ago today
We're way behind last winter on snowfall so far this winter. A year ago we shoveled our way through 14" on the ground in the Twin Cities.
Snow cover took a hit over the weekend. The Twin Cities has lost over half our snow cover in the past 10 days, from 5" on January 9th to 2" today.
Big chunks of western Minnesota are snow free in mid-January. You can clearly see the lack of snow cover on Sunday's NASA MODIS Terra 1,000 meter resolution satellite shot.
Enjoy the mild afternoon!