Updated Christmas Snow Forecast

Good Christmas Morning!

We have a major update for the Twin Cities’ winter storm. Warm air hitched a ride with Vixen last night and our temperatures rose through the night. We are above freezing and will remain there through the day with a rain snow mix that will hold our snow accumulations to a couple inches.

We need to get this snow moved because it will freeze in place and be impossible to get off the lots forcing plowing earlier than I had hoped today.

The rain and heavy, wet snow might keep our blowing and drifting at bay, but we’ll see what happens.

Have a great day and safe travels!

Brad

Heavy Snow Overnight

Happy Christmas Eve!

We were/are out plowing last night in the impressive snowfall. I haven’t seen this much snow since I was in college at Iowa State. There were a couple of very heavy bands that came through and the sidewalk would have one inch of accumulation on it by the time we got to the other end.

Most were having visions of sugar plums during the heavy snow, so here is some video of the very pretty snow while Quercus was out working.

We have a break in the snow until this evening when it is expected to pick back up in earnest dumping another 8-12″ through Saturday morning.

Official total so far (latest reported at 8:30 am):

• Prior Lake – 8.2″ (I measured the same in Shakopee)
• MSP Airport – 5.2″
• Chanhassen – 6.2″
• St Paul – 5.8″

We are certainly on track for the 16-22″ the NWS is expecting for us.

Have a great day!

Brad

And it begins…The Great Christmas Snow of 2009

Things look on track for a big snow event lasting a couple of days in the Twin Cities and much of the Upper Midwest.

Our Forecast in a chestnutshell (couldn’t resist):

• Snow begins this evening
• 2-4″ Accumulation by Christmas Eve morning
• 6″ snow Christmas Eve with periods of sleet
• 4-6″ more Christmas Day with possible breaks during the day
• 1-2″ Light snow Saturday and Sunday
• 10-15″ total

This one will be a workout for our crews and equipment. This storm is a little too involved for Our Plan in words so I made a cool little workflow for our clients with the timeline on the left and our corresponding anticipated actions on the right.

Please be safe and Happy Holidays!

Brad

Christmas Winter Storm Warning

Good afternoon!

The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Warnings for us which extends the gargantuan warning area all the way from Denver to Duluth (pink is winter storm warning/blue is winter storm watch).

I love – and cry at – this graphic from the Twin Cities NWS with all the snow.

Current guesses from NWS, Weather Watch (our paid weather service), Paul Douglas at Conservation Minnesota and MPR put us in line from 8-18″ of snow over the next few days. It will begin tomorrow evening and slowly stretch through Saturday midday. The bulk of the snow will come Thursday night and Wednesday along with a possible shot of freezing rain Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow I will let you know Our Plan for how we are handling this snow.

Have a great night!

Brad

Christmas Winter Storm Watch

Good afternoon!

A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for southern half of Minnesota, the northwest 2/3 of Iowa, all of South Dakota and far west Wisconsin with Winter Storm Warnings and Blizzard Watches for Kansas and Nebraska.

This mammoth storm is threatening to pound the upper midwest with 15-20″ of snow from Wednesday to Friday.

Good luck!

Uh-Oh…Major Christmas Snow?

Good morning,

Gooseberry Falls in Winter

We are looking at and watching a major snowstorm that is aimed at Minnesota for Christmas Eve through the day after Christmas. It appears now to be packing a foot or more of snow over those three days. Much can change between now and then, but it’s not a bad idea to start thinking about it now.

Quercus, Inc. provides our snow clients with a bevy of information about future and past snow events. Here is our latest Wrap Up email following Sunday’s snow. You can find more information at Quercus, Inc.’s Snow & Ice Management Journal.

A small event is working its way through the area tonight leaving an inch or so of snow between midnight and noon tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Brad

Very interesting insight into forecasting

Good morning -

Courtesy Daffodilblue on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26351789@N07/3149197110/

I thought this article was very interesting from Paul Huttner of MPR on their Updraft blog. He discusses the perils of mid-range forecasting and how difficult it is right now to predict anything with winter weather for Minnesota.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/updraft/archive/2009/12/forecast_models_all_over_the_m.shtml

Have a great day!

Brad

Email Snafu

We are transitioning everything at Quercus Landscapes, Inc. to simply Quercus, Inc. and in a bit of an email snafu my btabke@quercuslandscapes.com was shut off and won’t be back until tomorrow sometime. My new email is btabke@quercusinc.com but both of them work.

If you sent anything to the @quercuslandscapes.com email since last Saturday it has gone to live on some mythical farm full of lollipops and gingerbread – meaning it is not going to get to me. Please resend to btabke@quercusinc.com and update our contact information.

Thank you and have a great day!

Brad