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3rd Snowiest Winter on Record at the MSP Airport!!
Well the numbers are in and the official tally at the MSP Airport as of 7AM Saturday was 8.5" and that brings us to the 3rd snowiest winter on record!
1st: 98.6" (Set in 1983-84)
2nd: 95.0" (Set in 1981-82)
3rd: 89.7" (Set in 2022-23)
Snow Reports
Snow reports are trickling in... Here's a list of snow reports from our latest snow storm.
Snowy Friday Night
And just like that, heavy rain and hail turned to heavy snow across the Twin Cities. It was a quick change that turned roads into a mess. Heavy snow, strong winds and tumbling temps were the reason blizzard warnings were issued from the National Weather Service, which included the Twin Cities Metro through early AM Saturday.
Significant Travel Concerns Friday Night
According to the Minnesota State Patrol, from 4:30pm Friday to 7:30am Saturday, there were 532 vehicle spinouts, 275 crashes (28 with injury) with 15 jackknifed semis.
Rare Blizzard Warning For Twin Cities
Widespread winter weather headlines were posted across much of the southern half of the state, including the Twin Cities Metro, which was under a Blizzard Warning through early AM Saturday. Blizzard Warnings for the core of the metro are quite rare. In fact, the last time the Twin Cities had a blizzard warning was back on December 23, 2020.
3rd Snowiest Season at MSP
The official tally at the MSP Airport was 8.5", which brings us to the 3rd snowiest season on record with 89.7". If you're keeping track, we only need 9 more inches to get us to the snowiest season on record!
Tornado Outbreak Friday
Friday was an incredibly active day with widely scattered thunderstorms from Minnesota to the Lower Mississippi Valley. Several devastating tornadoes were reported from Iowa to Arkansas, which unfortunately caused some catastrophic damage in some communities across the Central US. The image of the tornado below was captured by Tim Jones in Sigourney, Iowa and was shared on social media.
Significant Storm Reports on Friday
The storm report map from Friday showed widespread large hail, damaging winds and several tornadoes across the Mississippi River Valley. A number of tornadoes caused significant damage, including Little Rock, AR, where several injuries were reported Friday afternoon. The preliminary reports suggest that there were nearly 60 tornadoes (red dots below).
Rare HIGH RISK Day
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center upgraded their severe threat to a HIGH RISK midday Friday for the potential of strong tornadoes and significant wind damage. High Risks are a level 5 out of 5 and are typically reserved for the most significant severe weather threats. The last time there was a High Risk was back in March of 2021. In fact, there have only been 3 high risk days since 2020.
See a full list of High Risk Days HERE:
Snow Depth
As of Friday, March 31st, the MSP Airport had a Trace of snow on the ground. Much of Minnesota and into northern Wisconsin has a pretty significant snowpack. Nearly 2ft to 3ft of snow is on the ground near Lake Superior and more than 3ft on the ground near across parts of the U.P. of Michigan.
Snow Pack Water Equivalent
According to the National Weather Service, there is still a lot of water locked in the snow pack. SWE stands for Snow Water Equivalent and as you can see in the figure below, several inches of water is locked in the snow pack across much of the state. Thanks to this recent snowfall, we have even more across the region.
Twin Cities Weekend Outlook
Areas of blowing snow will take us into early Saturday morning, but the weekend will be dry and quiet with warming temps. By Sunday, readings could be close to 50F, which will help to melt a lot of the new snow we just picked up!
The Illusive 50F For Minneapolis
According to the Twin Cities National Weather Service, we did not hit 50F during the month of March, which is the first time we failed to do so since 2001.
Extended Temperature Outlook
The NBM extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis shows a string of 30s and 40s as we head into early April. Interestingly, the last time we hit 50F or warmer was back on November 26th (53F). On average, we hit our first 50F on March 4th. Last year, we hit our first 50F on March 15th (51F). There is a chance that we could see our first 50F as we approach the 2nd weekend of April.
Twin Cities Weather Outlook For Saturday
The weather outlook for the Twin Cities on Saturday, April 1st will be chilly with blowing snow, especially in the morning. The afternoon will feature more sunshine and lighter winds with temps nearing 40F, which will help get the melting process underway.
Weather Outlook on Saturday
Temps across the region on Saturday will warm into the 20s and 30s across much of the state, which will be around -10F to -20F below average. The Twin Cities will warm into the mid 30s, which will still be well below average. Areas of blowing snow will be possible in the morning with lighter winds later in the day and more sunshine.
Meteograms For Minneapolis
The hourly temps through the day Saturday will start in the low/mid 20s in the morning and will warm into the mid/upper 30s by the afternoon. We'll see a bit of blowing snow in the morning, but most of the day will be dry with more sunshine and temps warming to above the freezing mark. Winds will certainly be much stronger in the morning, but will be much lighter later in the day.
Hourly Feels Like Temps
Feels like temps on Saturday will start in the single digits in the morning and will warm to around the freezing mark later in the day.
Status of Spring
"March 27, 2023 - Spring leaf out continues to spread north, arriving several days to weeks earlier than average (the period of 1991-2020) in much of the Southeast, lower Midwest, and mid-Atlantic. The West is a mix of early and late. Pueblo, CO is 4 days late, Cleveland, OH is 6 days early, and Boston, MA is 9 days early. Spring bloom has also arrived in southern states, days to weeks early in the Southeast, and days to over a week late in the Southwest. Sacramento, CA is 13 days late, Richmond, VA is 14 days early. How typical is this year's spring? Darker colors represent springs that are unusually early or late in the long-term record. Gray indicates an average spring. Parts of the Southeast, lower Midwest, mid-Atlantic, and New York City area are seeing either the earliest spring leaf on record or a spring that only occurs once every 40 years (dark green). Parts of Arizona are seeing a spring that only occurs this late once every 40 years (purple). Spring bloom is latest on record across parts of the Southwest including California and Arizona, and earliest on record in parts of the upper Southeast including Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina."
See more from the National Phenology Network HERE:
Weather Outlook
After a very active Friday across the Central US, things will quiet down over the weekend. Enjoy it because another fairly large storm system looks to develop next week with more strong to severe storms and heavy snow somewhere across the Upper Midwest.
Severe Threat on Saturday & Next Tuesday
Ongoing strong to severe thunderstorms will be found across parts of the Eastern US on Saturday with damaging winds as the main concern. Looking ahead to next Tuesday, there is another possible severe threat across the Central US. Stay tuned...
Extended Temperature Outlook For Minneapolis
Temps will warm into the 30s and 40s over the next few days with the coldest day on Saturday as we only warm into the mid/upper 30s. The warmest could be Sunday as we approach 50F, but it get chilly again during the first week of April.
Extended Weather Outlook For Minneapolis
Areas of blowing snow will be possible early Saturday, but the weekend looks pretty quiet with highs approaching 50F by Sunday. There could be another midweek system with areas of rain, snow and wind, but we should see improvement as we approach the upcoming weekend.
8 to 14 Day Temperature Outlook
According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows cooler than average temperatures lingering across the Central and Eastern US. Meanwhile, things will begin to dry out and warm up along the West Coast.
8 to 14 Day Precipitation Outlook
According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 Day precipitation outlook shows drier/quieter weather settling in from the Western US to the Central US into the 2nd week of April.
Are You Enjoying Spring As Much As I Am?
By Paul Douglas
I'm trying to talk my younger sister into eventually moving to Minnesota (which I've started to call "The Canadian Riviera"). This weather isn't helping. She keeps texting me. "Are you OK out there? Someone leave the freezer door open? Has the National Guard been activated?" It was funny a few weeks ago. We are waking up to the worst April Fool's joke ever.
A band of heavy snow set up right over the metro, and if it's any consolation this should now be a Top 5 Winter Snowfall at MSP. What a way to end a drought. We have bragging rights. We always have.
Flurries taper and the sun comes out today, melting a lot of the snow that fell overnight. In spite of clouds and drizzle, we should see upper 40s on Sunday, with numerous 50s by mid-April.
California has endured 25 "atmospheric rivers" with crazy flooding so far this winter, and many of these storms have regenerated east of the Rockies, clobbering Minnesota with snow. One such storm may push rain, ice, snow and 50 mph winds into town Tuesday and Wednesday.
Extended Forecast
SATURDAY: Flurries, then bright sun. Winds: NW 8-13. High: 38.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy and quiet. Winds: SSE 5-10. Low: 25.
SUNDAY: Milder with clouds, drizzle. Winds: S 10-20. High: 48.
MONDAY: Mostly cloudy and quiet. Winds: W 5-10. Wake-up: 27. High: 43.
TUESDAY: Windy with rain - possible T-storms. Winds: E 15-35. Wake-up: 33. High: 44.
WEDNESDAY: Colder with some wind-whipped snow. Winds: W 20-45. Wake-up: 28. High 34.
THURSDAY: Chilly, dry Twins Home Opener. Winds: NW 10-15. Wake-up: 21. High 33.
FRIDAY: Plenty of sunshine, getting better. Winds: S 10-15. Wake-up: 18. High 43.
This Day in Weather History
April 1st
1882: A record high of 75 degrees is set at Minneapolis.
Average High/Low for Minneapolis
April 1st
Average High: 50F (Record: 54F set in 2015)
Average Low: 32F (Record: 9F set in 1975)
Record Rainfall: 0.54" set in 1967
Record Snowfall: 4.6" set in 2002
Sunrise/Sunset Times for Minneapolis
April 1st
Sunrise: 6:53am
Sunset: 7:40pm
Hours of Daylight: ~12 hours & 46 minutes
Daylight GAINED since yesterday: +3 Minutes & 7 Seconds
Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 4 hour & 00 minutes
Moon Phase for April 1st at Midnight
3.9 Days Until Full "Pink" Moon - 11:35 PM CDT - "The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and — among coastal tribes — the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn. This is also the first full moon of spring — the so-called Paschal Moon. Ecclesiastical rules mandate that the first Sunday after this moon is Easter, and so it will be on the 9th."
National High Temps on Saturday
Temperatures on Saturday will be cooler than average across the Midwest with temps running nearly -10F to -15F below average. Meanwhile, temps along the East Coast will be warmer than average by nearly +10F to +15F above average.
National Weather Outlook Saturday
The weather outlook on Saturday will be quite active in the Eastern US with the potential of strong to severe to storms. Meanwhile, another area of unsettled weather will move into the Western US into the weekend.
National Weather Outlook
The strong area of low pressure that produced strong to severe storms across the Central US on Friday will move east. Meanwhile, areas of heavy snow will end across the Midwest. Another storm system will develop in the Western US with areas of heavy precipitation. This storm will eventually become the next big weather story across the Central US as we approach the middle part of next week.
Extended Precipitation Outlook
According to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center, the extended precipitation outlook shows heavier amounts of precipitation from the Midwest to the Great Lakes. We'll also see heavier precipitation in the Southern US and the the Pacific Northwest.
Snowfall Potential
According to the ECMWF (European model), heavy snow will be found across much of the high elevations in the Western US and across the northern tier of the nation, possibly across parts of the Midwest! Stay tuned...
Climate Stories
"The Scariest Part of the New U.N. Climate Report? What Scientists Can't Predict"
"The scariest part of a landmark new report on the science of climate change may be what scientists don't know. On Monday, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.N.'s climate–science body, released the final volume in a series of reports outlining experts' latest understanding of the science of climate change. The report declared the science of climate change "unequivocal" and warned that even with urgent action we will continue to face a dramatic uptick in catastrophic events—from droughts to floods—that have become tell-tale signs of a rapidly warming world."
"Watch 1st aerial footage of gigantic, breakaway Antarctic iceberg the size of Los Angeles"
"Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey recently captured the first close-up video of A81, an enormous iceberg that broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in January. An enormous iceberg in Antarctica — an ice slab that's so massive, it has a surface area greater than Los Angeles — recently got its first aerial cameo, which showed off its mind blowing size. The ice slab, named A81, was birthed from the Brunt Ice Shelf on Jan. 22 after a gigantic chasm finally snapped through the 490-foot-thick (150 meters) ice shelf, after having been widening for nearly a decade. A81 covered an area of around 600 square miles (1,550 square kilometers) when it broke free from Antarctica and has since traveled around 93 miles (150 km) into the Weddell Sea."
See more from Live Science HERE:
"Scientists Just Warned We Need to Cut Emissions by 60 Percent, but the U.S. Is Years Away"
"The United Nations' latest climate assessment has upped the ante for energy policy in the United States, making it clear that rich nations need to cut their emissions more deeply than some of the most ambitious targets. The report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change introduced a new deadline that the world must meet to avoid the most catastrophic climate impacts. To limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, it found that global greenhouse gas emissions must decline by 60 percent by 2035 compared with 2019 levels (Climatewire, March 20). That translates to a 67 percent emissions cut by 2035 from a 2005 baseline — the year the United States uses as a benchmark. Even if the country met the Biden administration's goal of cutting emissions by 50 to 52 percent by 2030, it would have a long way to go in five years to make a 67 percent cut a reality."
See more from Scientific American HERE: