Ferocious storm delivers up north; a more wintry week ahead
Models differ on snow chances this week
Winter leaves no doubt that December is here across Minnesota Monday. Our well-advertised weekend storm system delivered for northern Minnesota.
Snowfall totals reached a whopping 20 inches about 20 miles north of Grand Marais. More than a foot of snow fell at several other locations across northeastern Minnesota. A wide area of 5 to 10 inches covered most of northern Minnesota westward into the Red River Valley.
Gales of December
Winds gusted to 66 mph on the Blatnik Bridge near Duluth early Monday morning.
Many locations across Minnesota saw wind gusts top 50 mph. Gusts were clocked at 55 mph in Redwood Falls in southwestern Minnesota and 53 mph at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
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Coldest temperatures so far
This air mass brings the coldest temperatures so far this season to Minnesota. The Twin Cities bottoms out around 4 degrees overnight. Lows dive into subzero territory early Tuesday morning up north.
Snow chances this week
Forecast models diverge on snowfall chances this week. Most models agree on a likely light snowy dusting.
The snowfall zone favors the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota. Accumulations will likely be less than one-half inch. But as we learned again Saturday night, it doesn’t take much snow to slick up roads. Temperatures in the teens and 20s Tuesday will favor some slick spots.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System and the Canadian model suggest additional snow chances Thursday and Friday. NOAA’s GFS model develops a potentially significant snowmaker Friday across much of Minnesota.
It should be noted that the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model currently does not forecast snowfall Friday.
Much warmer next week?
Many forecasts suggest another big warmup next week. It’s still early, but NOAA’s GFS is cranking out another air mass with highs in the 40s and 50s across Minnesota, with even warmer air just south.
Stay tuned.