Weather Picture for December 22-28 from Tornado Bob

(Saturday afternoon update)

The freezing drizzle certainly did not help the trail conditions, but I was out at Sugar Hills this morning, and there's only a thin coating of ice, so once the trails are groomed again, the ice should be taken care of. We have a chance the temperatures may rise above freezing again Monday morning. Maybe another chance of snow on Tuesday, but snow chances are very uncertain for the next two weeks as I'm seeing no consistent information regarding any particular storms. Temperatures will likely be typical for this time of year.

(Updated Monday morning)

This weekend's snowstorm generally dumped 3-7" in the KAXE listening area, which is generally less than the amounts expected, but we really didn't need a big snowstorm. The largest totals, in excess of a foot, were along the North Shore of Lake Superior, where onshore and upslope winds aided the snowfall. Snow depths now generally range from 12-16" over most of northern Minnesota, with over two feet in some locations along the North Shore.

There will be more snow this coming week. One trough of low pressure will move through on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Right now, it looks like a 1-5" snowfall over much of Minnesota. Another trough will move through on Friday. There are some indications that Friday's system might become a larger storm (there will be a lot of Gulf moisture available for it), but that's pretty uncertain right now, so we'll just have to keep paying attention to the latest forecasts.

Temperatures will start out colder than normal with highs in the single digits above zero and lows approaching -20 F. By the end of the week, temperatures will moderate considerably, and there may be enough warming to provide a threat of liquid precipitation for at least part of the system coming through Friday/Saturday. Overall, it looks like the colder pattern we've been having for the past month is losing its grip, and we may actually experience both above average and below average temperatures over the coming two weeks.