North Shore snowfall tops 18 inches; season's coldest air mass ahead
Heavy "fire hose" effect snowfall on the North Shore
Crank up the lake-effect fire hose.
A concentrated plume of heavy lake-effect snow dumped 18.5 inches of snow so far this week near Hovland, east of Grand Marais along Minnesota’s North Shore.
Snowfall reports are still coming in and snow is still falling in some areas, but several locations along the North Shore have already received between 6 and 14 inches of snow.
Fire hose lake-effect
While not a technical meteorological term, a snow fire hose aptly describes the look of narrow lake-effect snow bands as they spray shorelines with plumes of localized heavy snow.
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This week’s lake-effect snow event along the North Shore was in between major radar locations in Duluth and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Duluth National Weather Service office meteorologist Joe Moore posted this comment on the fire hose-style banding between Grand Marais and Grand Portage, near the tip of Minnesota’s Arrowhead region.
Coldest air so far this season ahead
Wednesday brings another day around 30 degrees to much of Minnesota.
By Thursday, bracing northwest winds will gust over 30 mph and temperatures will plummet through the 20s. By Friday morning lows will be in the teens south to near zero up north.
Friday and the weekend bring the first smack of January-level cold to Minnesota.
Stay warm, Minnesota.