Todd's SCTIMES Outlook for St. Cloud and all of Central Minnesota
MONDAY NIGHT: WINTER STORM WARNING Continues. Snow moving through rapidly and lightens considerably by 7pm or 8pm. Another 1" to 2" possible through the early evening hours for storm totals of 4" to 8" around the region with lighter amounts in that range around central Minnesota. Low: 16
WEDNESDAY: Quiet with a mix of clouds and sun. High: 23
THURSDAY: Christmas EVE EVE looking like a partly snowy travel day, could see more snow accumulations, especially across southern MN... stay tuned. High: 25
FRIDAY: Christmas eve. Light snow chance early. Cooler with a few more peeks of sunshine late. High: Around 20
SATURDAY: Chilly Christmas day sunshine. Better travel day. High: Upper teens
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny and warmer, not a bad day to rest. High: Mid 20s
**UPDATE For Monday Evening**
Snow is moving through quite rapidly now, the bulk of which should be moving through during the evening hours and taper considerably to just a few light snow showers or flurries after 8pm. Roadways are still going to be slow and slippery, take it easy out there. From 5pm through the rest of the evening, we may only get an additional 1" to 2" for storm total amounts of 4" to 8" region wide, lighter amounts of that range around central Minnesota. I wouldn't doubt if winter storm warnings are allowed to expire before 6am Tuesday. The latest snow reports are listed below and continue to filter in:
Snow Total Update from 410pm Monday
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 410 PM CST MON DEC 20 2010 ...SNOWFALL TOTALS SO FAR FOR DECEMBER 20... THE TOTALS BELOW ARE SEPARATED INTO SNOW...AND ICE AND SLEET CATEGORIES...THEN BY AMOUNT...AND ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE FINAL AMOUNT FOR EACH LOCATION. SNOW REPORTS LISTED BY AMOUNT INCHES LOCATION ST COUNTY TIME ------ ----------------------- -- -------------- ------- 7.50 MADELIA MN WATONWAN 0345 PM 7.00 NNW ST CLAIR MN BLUE EARTH 0328 PM 6.00 NORTH MANKATO MN NICOLLET 0330 PM 6.00 JANESVILLE MN WASECA 0300 PM 5.00 SACRED HEART MN RENVILLE 0242 PM 4.50 WINTHROP MN SIBLEY 0357 PM 4.50 ST JAMES MN WATONWAN 1231 PM 4.00 MANKATO MN BLUE EARTH 0147 PM 3.30 2 W PRIOR LAKE MN SCOTT 0400 PM 3.00 2 SW DELANO MN WRIGHT 0346 PM 2.00 LITCHFIELD MN MEEKER 0240 PM 2.00 NEW MARKET MN SCOTT 0214 PM 1.90 WAITE PARK MN STEARNS 0354 PM 1.80 BLOOMINGTON MN HENNEPIN 0319 PM 1.50 LAKEVILLE MN DAKOTA 0158 PM 1.30 1 WSW NEW BRIGHTON MN RAMSEY 0201 PM 1.20 RICE MN BENTON 0156 PM 1.00 RUSH CITY MN CHISAGO 0330 PM 1.00 4 SSW MINNEAPOLIS MN HENNEPIN 0241 PM 1.00 RICHFIELD MN HENNEPIN 0159 PM
**PREVIOUS UPDATE @ 2pm Monday**
WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES
Large swath of snow continues to push through the Upper Midwest - forecast still on track with total 4" to 8" across the region through early Tuesday morning. The bulk of the snow will come through this afternoon and taper late this evening.
Tracking Heavy Snow on Radar
The image below shows intense snow banding over Mankato, which can lead to snowfall rates of nearly 1" or more per hour. Track the local radar here:
Tracking snowfall rates based on visibility
The image below shows the two areas where moderate to heavy snow were occurring by early afternoon on Monday. Visibilities in these locations are down to 1/2 to 1/4 mile, which indicates 0.5" to nearly 1" snowfall rates.
**PREVIOUS DISCUSSION**
Here We Go Again!
Say it ain't so... Another white knuckle commute is shaping up this afternoon/evening and likely again tomorrow morning as a winter storm bears down on the region. WINTER STORM WARNINGS have been issued for most of central Minnesota, including St. Cloud and the Twin Cities in advance of another shovelable/plowable snow.
Your ride into work or school should be fine today, but snow starts around late morning/midday and continues to fall steadily through the afternoon and evening hours. By the evening rush, we may already have 2" to 4" on the ground. No doubt, it'll be an interesting night as bright white flakes fall on TCF Bank Stadium for the first outdoor NFL football game in the Twin Cities since the "Old Met" days back in 1981.
Snow Removal Time Lapse for the TCF Band Stadium
There was a lot of work that went into getting the TCF Bank Stadium ready for the big Monday Night Football game. The estimate was 15,000 man hours!! If you haven't seen the snow removal time lapse for the stadium you have to check it out. View time lapse HERE:
Snow will taper through the overnight hours and total snow accumulations by Tuesday morning could be around 4" to 8" - It is important to note that there appears to be a trend in the where the lighter/heavier amounts of snow may be found. It appears the lighter amounts will be found on the south and east side of town and the heavier amounts will be on the north and west side of town. We'll have more updates through the day on Monday with any change in the track of the heaviest snow amounts around the region.
Round #2 of Snow This Week
Those with holiday travel plans week, may want to think about leaving either later Tuesday or during the day on Wednesday. If this snowy December hasn't been enough already, there may be more accumulating snow on the way for Thursday... good grief! As of now, it appears the bulk of the moisture will be to our south, but it's still a developing system... stay tuned.
Extremely Rare Solstice Lunar Eclipse
The information below comes from: www.spaceweather.com: "The lunar eclipse of Dec. 21st falls on the same date as the northern winter solstice. Is this rare? It is indeed, according to Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory, who inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years. "Since Year 1, I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is Dec. 21, 1638," says Chester. "Fortunately we won't have to wait 372 years for the next one...that will be on Dec. 21, 2094."
Too bad we'll be clouded over, but if you're interested... WHEN TO LOOK: The total eclipse lasts more than an hour from 02:41 am to 03:53 am EST on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st. Any time within that interval is a good time to look. For other time zones, consult Shadow & Substance's animated eclipse.
Have a good Monday - Todd Nelson
No comments:
Post a Comment