Ironic winter
Snow lovers have been a bit disappointed this winter. Only 26.5" of snow has fallen at MSP airport. That's 17.3" below the seasonal average of 43.8" and only 61% of average.
That's also less than all of these cities to the SOUTH of the Twin Cities.
Madison, WI 91.5 in
Des Moines, IA 56.6 in.
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Cleveland, OH 52.1 in.
Chicago, IL 47.5 in.
Rochester, MN 36.2 in.
St. Louis, MO 30.3 in.
The ironic part is that what snow we've had has stuck around all winter. We've had continuous snow cover since December 1st. That's the first time in 11 years we've had continuous snow cover (at least 1" on the ground) for the entire meteorological winter (December through February) period.
The reason the snow has stuck around is a persistent polar vortex spinning over Hudson Bay. This atmospheric circulation feature has been stuck since mid January, and keeps dealing arctic air masses southward out of central Canada right into the Upper Midwest. We've been on the back side of the trough axis (cold & dry) while areas to the east have been near or to the east of the trough axis. (cold & snowy)
Want some good news? This stubborn polar vortex will lift north enough next week to allow a milder Pacific air mass in from the west and should warm us into the 40's.
Want some better news? The computer runs are hinting that the vortex may break down and lift even further north by about March 21st. That would allow spring like weather to take hold in a more persistent way. Stay tuned there, the models have hinted at this before and not delivered. But if everything works out just right, you may see your lawn again by about March 23rd.
Hope springs eternal, as they say!
PH