Turning the page

Alright already! We love our Minnesota winters, heh? But how about a little warmup.

The arctic high moves east today and we begin to climb out of the deep cold that brought record lows this morning to St. Cloud and International Falls.

Once we start the moderation and melt some snow we could have a shot at 50 early next week in the Twin Cities. Last year we recorded our first 50 in the metro on March 13th.

Preparations are underway to avert the calamity of a potential major flood on the Red River of the North. North Dakota recorded the wettest winter on record, which came after a very wet autumn. A little bit of good news, for the time being, as a moderation begins the thaw this weekend. Not a big precipitation event immediately insight as well.

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NOAA's report on the ranking of winter precipitation

Ideally, you wish for a thaw to start now, with some evaporation with the March sun and winds. There is just a lot of stored water that has to go somewhere. Worst case would be a heavy rain event the first week in April as the water begins to flow north.

Notice the dry winter in Texas. It is ironic that Dallas received record rainfall of 3.6 inches yesterday and has a flood warning for the local region this morning.

CE

naturesmessenger.com