Updraft: February 11, 2008 Archive

On the edge again

Posted at 7:02 AM on February 11, 2008 by Paul Huttner (3 Comments)

It looks like the Twin Cities will be on the edge of another snow system.

An Alberta Clipper will bring snow again to parts of Minnesota today and tonight. This time it looks like the heaviest band will be in southwest and southern Minnesota, where 3 to 5 inches could pile up through tonight.

Twin Cities NWS snow & cold facts

We still have some catching up to do with snow here in the metro. We've had 22.5" of snow so far this winter at MSP Airport. That's a full 14.6" below average.

This has been an interesting winter so far for storms in Minnesota. The Twin Cities hasn't really had a bull’s eye since Christmas Day. We're due for a big snow sometime in the next few weeks.

I keep looking for a break in the upper air pattern that might suggest a thaw, but old man winter is hanging tough this year. The cold upper low we call the "polar vortex" has been a persistent feature near Hudson Bay, and it looks like other than a brief thaw early next week, it may be February 25th before we can see a prolonged thaw.

Hang in there!

PH

Making National Headlines.....for cold

Posted at 4:43 PM on February 11, 2008 by Mark Seeley

Interesting sequence of news about International Falls, Minnesota. Over the weekend it was revealed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that this city has been granted the official title of the "Nation's Icebox." Bragging rights for the people of northern Minnesota are official now! Nearly simultaneously, the Monday morning National Weather Service headlines feature International Falls as the coldest spot in the lower 48 states with a reading of -40 degrees F. Well, actually tied for the coldest with Embarrass which also registered -40 degrees F Monday morning. Atmospheric pressure from the arctic air mass peaked at 30.58 inches coinciding with the minimum air temperature. This is the first time since January 31st that Minnesota has reported the coldest temperature in the 48 contiguous states (of course we don't compete with interior Alaska this time of year where it is -50 F or colder). In January, Minnesota held this distinction 4 times. We'll see how many times we can do it this month.