North Shore digs out, Nordic outbreak brings sub-zero temps
Wintery Smack
Talk about a reality check. Minnesota's weather message is crystal clear, winter is here to stay.
Our early December winter storm battered Duluth and the North Shore for 3 days with some epic snowfall totals.
I had the pleasure of meeting NWS cooperative weather observer Gordon Hommes a couple of years back in Two Harbors. In NWS weather observer speak, he goes by the handle '7 NW Two Harbors.' Gordon sent me a few photos from the storm, including this one of his NWS weather station draped in snowfall this week.
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Gordon appears to win the coveted 'Golden Shovel Award' for this storm. He's the guy who came up with a grand total of 35.3" for the highest 'official' snowfall total recorded in the storm so far.
There appears to be an unofficial report of 42 inches near Two Harbors that is not confirmed as of yet.
Clearly it takes dedication to go out and measure snow every 6 hours for days on end. Weather observing in Two Harbors is not for the faint of heart. A big thanks to Gordon and all the NWS cooperative observers out there who provide critical weather 'ground truth' every day.
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Twin Cities: 'Plowable'
The Twin Cities NWS reports show the metro picked up a nice snowfall range of between 2.8" in Burnsville, to 7.5" in Ramsey in the north metro in Anoka County. Here's the NWS snowfall list showing several 6"+ totals in the west metro.
As expected, the Twin Cities rode the rain snow line to the southeast during the event. You can see the sharp cutoff in snowfall close to the southeast metro. Here's the map from the Twin Cities NWS.
Snow done, cold next
Our Nordic Outbreak is in full effect behind the storm. Wind chill advisories are up for 11 states, from Wisconsin all the way back into the Rockies. Meanwhile the next low pressure wave brings snow to the southern Plains and Ohio Valley, where heavy snow and ice is generating winter storms warnings.
Decembrrrr
Our December arctic outbreak will last into the weekend. Here's a look at the sub-zero wind chills tomorrow morning.
The cold looks like a double dip affair. We moderate slightly Sunday with a chance for some light snow...before the next arctic wave pushes south.
Stay warm Minnesota!