Crazy winter so far throws Minnesota life out of balance

Posted at 8:49 AM on January 9, 2012 by Paul Tosto
Filed under: Weather

Two charts from the Minnesota Climatology Working Group show you all need to know about Minnesota's upside down winter.

Here's the snow depth last year on Jan. 6, with Minnesota covered in big blotches of deep blues and purples showing most of Minnesota with at least a foot of snow:

And here's the chart from Thursday , where brown rules:

It's a crazy swing. This is not the winter we're supposed to be having. Even the Farmers' Almanac got it wrong:

According to the almanac's predictions made last summer, there's supposed to be heavy snow (8-12") this week from the Rockies through Northern and Central Plains.

It may be an aberration or it may be signs of climate change. But there's no doubt it's throwing us off. What are we to make of the weather we're in?