Winter, Officially, Starts Tuesday @ 5:38pm

Todd's SCTIMES Outlook for St. Cloud and all of central Minnesota

TUESDAY: Snow flurries taper through the day. Winter Solstice arrives at 5:38pm. It's OFFICIALLY winter!!  High: 26


TUESDAY NIGHT: A few flurries possible, nothing rough. Low: 18

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: Upper teens

SATURDAY: Chilly Christmas day sunshine. Better travel day. High: Mid Teens

SUNDAY: Mostly sunny and warmer, not a bad day to rest. High: Low teens

MONDAY: Partly sunny, maybe a few flakes. High: Low teens


Snowy Monday Night Football

(Photo Courtesy Stephanie Lauseng)

(Photo Courtesy University of Minnesota Facebook Page)

Snow Totals From Monday's Storm (A more comprehensive list may be available later Tuesday)

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
616 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   1 ESE OWATONNA           MN  STEELE           0500 PM
  7.00   NNW ST CLAIR             MN  BLUE EARTH       0328 PM
  6.10   2 W PRIOR LAKE           MN  SCOTT            0600 PM
  6.00   NEW MARKET               MN  SCOTT            0554 PM
  6.00   ST JAMES                 MN  WATONWAN         0510 PM
  6.00   NORTH MANKATO            MN  NICOLLET         0435 PM
  6.00   2 NNE MANKATO            MN  BLUE EARTH       0410 PM
  6.00   JANESVILLE               MN  WASECA           0300 PM
  5.50   FARIBAULT                MN  RICE             0455 PM
  5.20   CHANHASSEN               MN  CARVER           0540 PM
  5.00   1 ESE CHASKA             MN  CARVER           0600 PM
  5.00   ST MICHAEL               MN  WRIGHT           0551 PM
  5.00   SACRED HEART             MN  RENVILLE         0242 PM
  4.60   1 E BLOOMINGTON          MN  HENNEPIN         0549 PM
  4.50   FARMINGTON               MN  DAKOTA           0607 PM
  4.50   MINNEAPOLIS              MN  HENNEPIN         0600 PM
                 TAKEN AT MINNEAPOLIS - ST. PAUL INTERNATIONAL
                 AIRPORT
  4.50   WINTHROP                 MN  SIBLEY           0357 PM
  4.50   ST JAMES                 MN  WATONWAN         1231 PM
  4.40   5 SW ST PAUL             MN  RAMSEY           0541 PM
  4.20   ANNANDALE                MN  WRIGHT           0531 PM
  3.90   2 N WILLMAR              MN  KANDIYOHI        0540 PM
  3.80   LAKEVILLE                MN  DAKOTA           0500 PM
  3.70   MURDOCK                  MN  SWIFT            0450 PM
  3.30   SAUK RAPIDS              MN  BENTON           0515 PM
  3.30   INVER GROVE HEIGHTS      MN  DAKOTA           0500 PM
  3.30   1 W EAGAN                MN  DAKOTA           0408 PM
  3.00   PLYMOUTH                 MN  HENNEPIN         0415 PM
  3.00   ST CLOUD                 MN  STEARNS          0404 PM
  2.70   LONG PRAIRIE             MN  TODD             0557 PM
  2.50   ST JOSEPH                MN  STEARNS          0420 PM
  2.30   CHAMPLIN                 MN  HENNEPIN         0335 PM
  2.10   HAM LAKE                 MN  ANOKA            0510 PM
  2.00   8 S HILLMAN              MN  MORRISON         0559 PM
  1.90   WAITE PARK               MN  STEARNS          0354 PM
  1.00   2 S RICE LAKE            WI  BARRON           0551 PM
  1.00   RUSH CITY                MN  CHISAGO          0330 PM
  0.80   EAU CLAIRE               WI  EAU CLAIRE       0430 PM

Quiet Weather Tuesday Wednesday
Good news for those who have travel plans either Tuesday or Wednesday, the weather look fairly quiet. There may be some residual effects from Monday's snow on Tuesday mornings commute, but things should improve greatly for the PM Tuesday commute and all of Wednesday. Today also marks the first day of winter! The winter solstice will ring at 5:38pm CST as the suns rays pause over the Tropical of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees latitude south. We won't gain much daylight through the end of the month, but we're heading in the right direction! The picture below is from Fairbanks Alaska on winter solstice when the sun is at its lowest point in the sky for the northern hemisphere, note how it just skims the horizon.

(Photo Courtesy Scienceblogs.com)

 

More Accumulating snow on the Way?

The rumors keep flying about another potential snow storm by Thursday. Something is brewing, but uncertainty still exists on where this system will be Thursday. The heaviest blob of moisture continues to stay to our south, we get a glancing blow with maybe a few inches across far southern Minne'snow'ta - stay tuned for further updates. December monthly snowfall inching closer... Before Monday's snow, we had a monthly total snowfall of 24.2" - only 11" away from the snowiest December on record of 33.2" which was set in 1969. With Monday's total snow and what ever, we get on Thursday (if any) - I'm thinking we are going to be VERY close record territory... this is also something to watch

Have a good Tuesday - Todd Nelson