Updraft: December 5, 2007 Archive

Your daddy's winter

Posted at 7:20 AM on December 5, 2007 by Paul Huttner (1 Comments)

Remember the stories?

"When I was a kid the snow was waist deep. It came in December and didn't melt until Easter. We had to walk two miles to school and the drifts we're THIS high...."

It's starting to look like an old fashioned winter in Minnesota. This is the third snowiest December on record so far in the Twin Cities. Most of the state is sporting a thick snow cover now, and in places like Duluth and the North Shore it's beginning to look like the start of a new ice age.

Snowy December start

After a chilly break today, another "weak" system will deposit another 1 to 3 inches of snow on most of Minnesota and surrounding areas Thursday. Again, there could be some isolated higher totals.

The next system moves in Saturday with another chance of snow. Then another chance of snow appears possible next Wednesday.

A white Christmas looks to be a sure thing this year. No major thaw in sight for the next two weeks. That’s good news for those of us looking to play in the snow, or get into the holiday spirit!

PH

Inauguration to the Northland

Posted at 12:47 PM on December 5, 2007 by Craig Edwards

I had been cautioned by my Hoosier colleagues about the long winter seasons experienced in the Northland. As I drove north through Madison on Dec. 3, 1991, Old Man Winter rolled out the white carpet.

Traveling westbound on I-94 was harrowing, as an icy wind blew fine snow crystals across the highway in the late afternoon. Arriving in Bloomington after dark, I pulled into a motel lot hoping to negotiate a parking spot near an outside electrical outlet. Snow was pushed three feet high along the border of the building. After a little digging by hand, I got lucky and found a buried outlet to provide power to my engine heater.

It was noteworthy to view the weather highlight on the NWS Web page yesterday, which listed the record low as -11 on Dec. 4, 1991. Yes, my first day as NOAA’s chief meteorologist for the Twin Cities remains an historical event, if only related to weather records.

In my 15 years at the helm of the NWS I don’t recall one show-stopping snow storm where school was canceled in Minneapolis/St. Paul. On a couple of occasions the governor did cancel classes statewide due to brutal cold.

As Paul Huttner noted in his morning blog, this is more like your daddy’s winter.
December snowfall.