Minnesota: Snow, sun & pine trees = big temp swings

It's amazing what a little snow, some sun and pine trees can do.

We've seen have seen huge temperatures swings today from early morning to afternoon. Temperatures in many locations rebounded anywhere from 25 to 40 degrees today. It turns out conditions are just perfect in the Upper Midwest today for what we call big "diurnal temperature variations."

This weather geeky term simply refers to the difference between the morning minimum and afternoon maximum temperatures. To get the diurnal variation, you simply subtract the daily low from the daily high. That gives you the diurnal range in temps for the day. Yes, these are the little weather geek games us meteorologists like to play. What's the deal Huttner...slow weather day?

Check out some of these numbers from today. Keep in mind that the average Twin Cities high and low today are 27/10. That's an average daily diurnal variation of 17 degrees.

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Location: High/Low/DV

Twin Cities Airport: 25/0/25

Blaine: 27/-2/29

Crystal: 27/-5/32

St. Cloud: 19/-14/33

So we saw anywhere from a 25 to 33 degree temperature recovery today in the Twin Cities to St. Cloud. In the case of St. Cloud, that's nearly double the average daily temperature range for this time of year.

The numbers get even bigger as you move north into pine and spruce covered nothern Minnesota towns.

Location: High/Low/DV

Ely: 21/-20/41

International Falls: 23/-18/41

Cook: 27/-18/45

That's a 45 degree swing in Cook in one day folks. Pretty remarkable.

So why the big daily temp swings this time of year?

It turns out several conditions are just perfect for generating the big temp changes.

-Fresh, Deep Snow Cover: Fresh snow radiates very well at night. That allows temperatures to plummet in the overnight hours on clear nights.

-Stronger February Sun: The noon sun angle is now 8 degrees higher than in late December. Overall solar output is more than twice as high as 6 weeks ago. The increased solar energy on sunny days helps boost afternoon temperatures more rapidly than a few weeks ago.

-Coniferous Forests: The pine tree effect up north help to greatly boost daytime temperatures in the northern forests this time of year. The trees are much more efficient "heaters' of the lower atmosphere as they turn incoming short wave solar radiation into longer wavelengths that are more efficient at heating the surrounding air mass.

Enjoy the big temp swings this time of year, and be happy that us weather geeks have something to do on quiet weather days like today. Can you say "pocket protector?"

PH