Jan 21 – Winter Weather Advisory

A few hours ago, the metro was tossed into a winter weather advisory until midnight tonight because of the freezing rain that popped up. Be careful when you are out!

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

Snow late tonight/early tomorrow morning

Happy Sunday!

The metro area is smack in the middle of a Winter Weather Advisory for 2-4″ of snow tonight. Fairly light winds should make this a happy little Minnesota snowfall. Temperatures will be cold again after the snow with highs in the single digits Monday and Tuesday but warming for the weekend.

The timing on this one is a bit rough because the bulk of the snow will fall between 3-6 am, pretty much ensuring the commute tomorrow will be tough.

Have a great day!

Brad

Snowflakes Explained

I thought this was neat – with beautiful pictures. Most snowflakes are hexagonal but many seem to be triangles…or are they? It is explained in this Wired Article.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/12/triangular-snowflakes/

Have a great afternoon!

Brad