Weather Picture for December 8-14 From Tornado Bob

Sunday Evening December 14 update: totals of 6-12" expected

The band of heavy snow moved in just before noon, and it has dropped 6-10" of snow. That band is starting to move off, and it looks like we're within a couple of inches of our total from this storm (except if you are farther northeast near Ely, where it will snow hard for a few more hours). The subzero weather has arrived a little ahead of schedule, and the temperatures will drop further with strong north winds tonight. Expect only another inch or less near Bemidji, maybe an inch or two in Grand Rapids, and perhaps as much as six inches more in Ely.

We go into the deep freeze after this storm passes, with highs in the single digits above and below zero and lows in the teens and 20s below zero. Expect a few of the colder locations to reach -30 F or colder. Two systems will pass mostly south of us on Tuesday and Friday, hitting southern Minnesota and Wisconsin. There is some chance of light snows in our area, particularly from Friday's system.

National Weather Service Duluth web page:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh/

Minnesota snow depth maps:
http://climate.umn.edu/doc/snowmap.htm

Posted Monday December 8:

We received 4 to 5 inches of snow in the Grand Rapids area over the weekend. Although it was fairly light and not the greatest for making a trail base, it gets us closer to where we need to be, and we are quite happy to receive it (at least I am)! Up to this past weekend, I had been frustrated by seeing a lot of snowfalls miss us, but the parade of small, light snow-producing systems in northwesterly flow continues, and it just so happens that a couple of them finally hit us in northern Minnesota.

The weather will continue to be active over the next week. We have some scattered snow in the area today (Monday December 8) from a storm system that will reorganize well to our south and mostly hit southern Minnesota. Then, we have one or two more of these light snow-producing systems headed through the area from Alberta, Canada. The strongest of these looks to come through on Wednesday, and this system will most likely produce another inch or two of snow (maybe a little more in some areas and less in others).

After the system comes through on Wednesday, the upper level flow will start coming more from the southwest, and that will provide a better chance for heavier, more significant snows in Minnesota, most likely some time this coming weekend (December 13-14). Weather predictability is not very good that far out, but on a large scale, the basic ingredients will be in place: plenty of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and a bitterly cold Arctic airmass settling in over the plains of Canada, setting the stage for a "clash of the airmasses" somewhere over the north central U.S. Stay tuned! I'm sure I'll be updating the blog as this weekend comes closer.