Happy astronomical winter, Twin Cities searching for snow

It snowed in northern and southern Minnesota as expected this week. But snowfall has been scarce so far this season around the Twin Cities. Here at the Weather Lab in the southwest metro, it's a frosted wheat lawnscape as we approach Christmas.

A wider view of snow cover across Minnesota shows ample snow up north, and a decent snow cover across the fields of southern Minnesota. There are still some holes in snow cover from the Twin Cities heading toward Watertown, South Dakota.

North and south

Several forecast models this week accurately handled the notion of two snow waves passing north and south of the Twin Cities. You can check out specific totals here.

Twin Cities snow drought continues

So far the Twin Cities has logged just 5.1 inches of snowfall this season. That's about 14 inches less than average. The Twin Cities National Weather Service has an interesting look at  historical winter snow trends with this little snow through Dec. 20.

Cold next

Temperatures hover slightly below seasonal average into Saturday. The arctic front arrives Christmas Eve and colder air settles in Christmas Day.

December cold: Playing catch up

The Twin Cities is still running 5.4 degrees warmer than average through Dec. 20. Next week's cold will trim that buffer. Will it be enough to overcome the mild December so far? It looks like December temperatures will finish much closer to average.

Climate Cast: A climate denial industry

We're tackling climate change denial this week on Climate Cast. I talk to three expert researchers who study many facets of the so-called climate change denial industry. Plus, we'll hear about some extra warm temperatures in the northernmost city in the country.

• Who's really driving climate change denial? We pose this question to Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard University professor and co-author of "Merchants of Doubt," and Michael Mann, a renowned climate scientist and meteorology professor at Penn State University. According to Mann, it started with a small number of people who created "a facade of what looks to be widespreads grassroots denialism when in fact it's Astroturf. It's manufactured denial funded and organzied by a small number of vested interests." In fact, as Oreskes' book finds, the movement began from a small group with links to the tobacco industry.

• The political right's focus on attacking climate science. Riley Dunlap, a political and environmental sociologist at Oklahoma State Universtity, says that people who follow conservative politics may be more likely to hear climate change deinal themes more often than they hear mainstream climate science. That type of thinking has become a main part of the right's platform, he says. "As people see more extreme weather events ... will they accept the message of the scientific community that human behavior is actually a key factor in this or will they continue to follow the denial message?"

• North Alaska is so warm, it's confusing computers. December is running 20 degrees warmer than average in parts of Alaska. The Weather Channel's Kait Parker elaborates: "Temperatures are warming so fast in Alaska, computers think it's a mistake. ... Temperatures were running so much warmer than the surrounding area that the computer thought it was bad data. But the folks from the National Centers for Environmental Information found that the numbers were accurate. What's happening in Utqiagvik, also known as Barrow, Alaska, is rapid warming from melting sea ice."