Friday clipper brings snowy coating
As long as it's February, how about a fresh coating of snow to dress up the landscape around here? That is unless you have to deal with a Friday commute.
Friday's clipper rides in on northwest flow. It's not a monster system, but as we know a little snow goes a long way when temperatures are in the teens and low 20s.
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Here's a look at the latest low pressure track, snow shield and the next arctic high pressure cell diving south this weekend.
The latest snowfall projections continue to favor an inch for the Twin Cities metro area, give or take. The snow could be plowable up north.
Bottom line: Friday's inbound clipper is not a big deal by Minnesota weather standards, but it may be enough to gum up roads at times.
Cold bias to close February
It still looks like February goes out on a colder than average note. You have to know after a milder than average December and January we wouldn't get off that easy right?
Two more sub-zero nights are likely next week. At least temperatures crack 20 degrees two of the next seven days.
Tie for coldest air of the season in metro
This week's cold tied for the coldest temperature of the season in the metro which occurred Jan. 6 with a low of minus 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Thursday morning. The duration of the January cold snap was longer, with seven consecutive nights below zero. This week's cold wave does not match that.
Yes it was cold enough to freeze the blue juice on your windshield if it wasn't up to winter specs this week. Here's a great video from MPR News reporter Tim Post showing what happened to him. Evaporational cooling plays a role in creating instant crystals on the windshield.
Up north with deep snow, it was the coldest air of the winter season. Mark Seeley has more on the cold and increasing frost depth in this week's Weather Talk. Here's a preview.
Cotton set a new record low with a reading of -42°F, the coldest in the nation, and the coldest reading in Minnesota for this winter; Seagull Lake set a new record low with -38°F; Brimson and Embarrass set new record lows with a reading of -41°F; Ely and Tower set new record lows with -37°F; Orr reported a new record low of -36°F; and Littlefork reported a record low of -34°F.
It is interesting to note that the places in the state that set new cold temperature records this week were areas that also have the deepest snow cover (a foot up to 30 inches). From a historical perspective these are the coldest mid-February low temperatures since those of 1966.
Topic: Frost depths increase
The spell of abnormally cold weather combined with the thin snow cover continues to allow frost depths to go deeper into the soil. In southern Minnesota counties frost depths now range from 25 to 35 inches, while in northern counties many frost depths are reported that are deeper than 40 and 50 inches. Shallow soil temperatures, 2-4 inches have fallen this week into the teens F and even the single digits F in some places. Such low temperatures present a threat of winter injury to alfalfa fields and other plants. Maximum frost depths usually occur near the end of February or early March, so the depth of frost in Minnesota has likely not reached its maximum extent for this winter.
Stay warm Minnesota!