Updraft
< Winter chill rules | Main | News, weather, sports and commentary >

Odds & ends

Posted at 7:00 AM on February 19, 2008 by Paul Huttner (1 Comments)

Some numbers you may find interesting this morning and some you may want to forget!

Today is day 20 below zero in the metro this winter. The season average is 30 days at zero or below in the metro. Hopefully we won't get there this year. The jet stream will lift mercifully north this weekend giving us a weekend thaw. It may hit 40 in parts of western Minnesota Sunday, and maybe even in the Twin Cities if everything goes just right. Next week looks milder too. The likelihood of sub zero air decreases dramatically over the next two weeks.

NOAA says January snow cover in the U.S. was the most in 43 years. La Nina is probably the culprit. Pacific SST's are running anywhere from 2 to more than 4 degrees below average, prompting the CPC to call this a "moderate to strong" La Nina. It appears this is the 3rd strongest La Nina since 1979.

CPC ENSO discussion

Our moon will disappear Wednesday night when a total lunar eclipse occurs. It will be visible in all of North America, beginning in the metro at 7:43pm and ending at 11:09pm. Totality will run from 9:01pm to 9:52pm, a total of 51 minutes!

Minnesota Starwatch eclipse info

It should be clear to partly cloudy if you're brave enough to bear the cold!

PH

Comments (1)

Mark Lahtinen of the MPCA posted an analysis on skinnyski.com last month about the numbers of below-zero days per year, and how it has been tanking recently in the Cities. Compared with recent years, we are going to be well above the recent average this year.

In 1978, there were 50 days below 0, and in 2002 there were almost none (slightly fewer than 2006). Since 1998, this will be just the third year above 20 days. So, based on the 1970s and 1980s, it might not be that cold, but of recent years, it is.

Posted by Ari | February 19, 2008 12:57 PM

Recent Entries

February 2008
S M T W T F S
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29  


Master Archive

Recent Entries

MPR News
Radio

Listen Now

On Air

This American Life

Schedule

Shortcuts
Hourly Newscast
Hosts
Station Map

Other Radio Streams from MPR

Classical MPR
Radio Heartland

Services

Become a sponsor

In The Spotlight

  • Sound Learning

    Looking for ways to ensure your students are doing quality research from credible sources? Sound Learning is a launching point to Minnesota Public Radio's content on the Web.

  • The Current Music Blog

    Your daily note for good music, news and pop culture. With attempted jokes.