Clipper to make roads slick for afternoon rush

Alberta clipper

A low pressure system that is often fast-moving, has low moisture content, and originates in western Canada (in or near Alberta province). In the wintertime, it may be associated with a narrow but significant band of snowfall, and typically affects portions of the plains states, Midwest, and East Coast.

Classic clipper

Today's Alberta clipper looks pretty classic if slightly on the weaker side. A fast moving snow swath lights up radars today across southern Minnesota. Here's a quick look at timing and impacts today.

• Latest Twin Cities radar loop

Snowfall timing could be better. The bulk of accumulating snow falls between noon and 4 p.m., just in time to slick things up for the start of the afternoon rush hour today.

Temperatures and moisture profile in the lowest 10,000 feet come together just right for a nice "dendritic growth zone" near and south of the metro early this afternoon. That's an area of high quality snowflake production that may cause a more moderate burst of snow for a couple of hours.

With temps in the teens at ground level, it won't take long for roads to slick up today. Be careful out there.

Bottom line: Expect a shot snow from midday into mid afternoon. Metro snowfall totals range from a coating far north, to an inch or two south. Expect the heaviest snowfall rates just south of the metro, with some 2 to 3 inch-plus totals along Interstate 35 south of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport toward Owatonna and Albert Lea, and from Willmar to Mankato and Rochester.

Afternoon rush hour in the metro and southern Minnesota will be slick and plan for some extra travel time. Temps in the teens mean road conditions will be slick and icy.

Forecast: Classic February

The next week or so brings alternating shots of chilly air and milder days. Another shot of potential snow lurks Saturday. In other words, fairly typical February weather fare for Minnesota the next week.

The coldest morning this week arrives Thursday. The incoming arctic air mass and radiative effects fresh snow cover should be good enough to produce sub-zero tamps over most of Minnesota by Thursday morning.

Climate news

I've talked many times about how the insurance industry is ahead of the curve on climate change and the associated and increasingly well documented increases in catastrophic losses due to increase in extreme weather events. Is the well documented increase in billion dollar weather disasters form of hidden climate change adaptation tax for all of us?

Here's an update from the American Academy of Actuaries on just how quickly climate change is affecting the insurance industry, and ultimately all of us through higher premiums.

Rising Property/Casualty Costs

As weather-related damages increase, these costs fall on insurers, businesses, and consumers. The world’s five largest natural catastrophes ranked by insured losses in 2012 all occurred in the United States, including Hurricane Sandy, drought in the West, and various storms and tornadoes, according to Munich Re. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded 80 U.S. weather/climate events that each had losses exceeding $1 billion between 2004 and 2013, compared with only 46 events in the previous decade.

WMO chimes in: 2014 warmest on record

How many separate data sets and independent analyses does it take to conclude that 2014 was undeniably the warmest year on record globally? Add another log to the 2014 global temperature fire thanks the the World Meteorological Organization.

More from Climate Central.

If you need further confirmation that 2014 was the hottest year on record, the World Meteorological Organization has you covered.

The United Nations agency announced Monday that they, like various national agencies and informed by those agencies’ data, have placed 2014 atop the temperature records. They had the year coming in at 1.03°F above the long-term average of 57.2°F. So, let’s review who has put last year in first place:

NOAA? Check.

NASA? Check.

Japan Meteorological Agency? Yup.

WMO? Check.

UK Met Office? Them too. (Though they have it tied with 2010.)

Each agency can end up with slightly different temperature differences from year to year, as they handle their data a little differently, which can result in slightly different rankings. But this year, there was broad agreement, which is reflected in the WMO’s ranking, since they take all but the JMA numbers into account.

Iceland on the rise

I remember one of my favorite college professors telling me about "post glacial isostatic rebound" and how land masses rise when you remove the weight of glaciers. One recent study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters shows how Iceland is on the rise.

There are actually dots to connect between climate change, melting glaciers, rising land masses and increased volcanic eruptions that can snarl air traffic? Who knew?

Climate Central elaborates.

Parts of Iceland are rising, and the culprit may be climate change.

GPS measurements show that land in the central and southern parts of Iceland have been rising at a faster pace every year, beginning at about the same time as the onset of the ever-increasing melt of the island’s eponymous ice due to rising temperatures, a new study finds.

“There have been a lot of studies that have shown that the uplift in Iceland is primarily due to ice loss,” study lead author Kathleen Compton, a PhD student at the University of Arizona, said. But this one, detailed in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, is the first to show that the acceleration of one speeds up the other.

That uplift could in turn affect Iceland’s notorious volcanoes and hasten eruptions, which can have impacts on air travel, so clearly seen in the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, which disrupted air traffic for weeks.

Greenland, too: Dramatic ice melt last time global temps were this warm

This is why climate scientists are so concerned, and sounding alarm bells about the potential for rapid climate changes and sea level rises. The last time earth was this warm, global sea levels rose as much as 20 feet higher then they are today.

Some climate scientists are starting to believe we may be underestimating the potential for rapid sea level rises in the coming decades. Do the ice sheets in Greenland hold the key to sea level rise projections in the next few decades?

Here's more from kansascity.com on what researches from the University of Kansas are finding by flying highly sensitive ice penetrating radars over the Greenland ice sheets.

To get a better look at Greenland, climate scientists turned to Kansas.

A team of engineers from the University of Kansas developed ice-penetrating radar that helped create the first comprehensive 3-D map of the receding Greenland Ice Sheet.

And the picture they produced is scary.

The data reveal that the last time the Earth’s climate was roughly as warm as now, the ice sheet retreated to a fraction of what it is today.

“The conclusion is what it is,” said Prasad Gogineni, a professor of engineering and director of the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at KU.

That’s alarming because Greenland has the second-largest mass of ice on Earth. If it all melted, sea levels around the world would rise by more than 20 feet. More than 100 million people live within about a 3-foot elevation of the present sea level.