The hits just keep on comin'

Posted at 3:53 PM on December 18, 2008 by Paul Huttner (1 Comments)

NOAA SREF model ensembles paint a snow "bull's eye" over southern Minnesota Friday, as storm #2 takes shape in the northern Rockies.

Here we go again, and AGAIN. A potent 1-2 snow punch is headed our way over the next 72 hours.

System #1 dumped 3.6" snow on Las Vegas and set the all time December snowfall record yesterday. The southeast Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nevada piled up 8 inches!

That system is streaking toward Minnesota tonight. Expect snow to begin in southwest Minnesota by 6pm, and spread into the metro between 9pm and midnight. The north metro should see 2" to 4" of snow by lunchtime Friday. As much as 3" to 5" could pile up in the south metro. Southern Minnesota's I-90 "snow corridor" and northern Iowa could see 6" to 10" totals, where winter storm warnings are flying tonight.

We should see a break in the snow from about lunchtime Friday until sometime Saturday morning.

It gets better or worse this weekend, depending on your perspective.

System #2 is a strong, slow moving upper low pressure system. This system has plenty of cold air and "up glide" to work with. It looks to be a very efficient snow producer. It also looks like a long duration snow event. Many of our big winter storms may produce continuous snowfall for 8 or 12 hours. We could see as much as 27 hours of continuous snow from Saturday late morning until Sunday afternoon at some Minnesota observing sites! If we average half an inch per hour, that's a lot of snow for somebody.

By Sunday afternoon somebody close to the metro could be digging out from anywhere from 8" to 16"+ between the combined storms. Twin Cities airport has recorded 11" of snow so far this December. We have the potential to double that montly total by Sunday night. Then monthly average for all of December is 10"!

The good news is this will be a boom for ski areas, snowmobile drivers and sellers, snow plow operators, and anybody else who likes winter fun.

Here are some links to stay ahead of this winter weather.

Sioux Falls radar loop

Twin Cities radar loop

Twin Cities NWS weather advisories storm page

PH

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Comments (1)

If the weather conditions play-out as you have predicted, do you believe they will close Interstate 35 and Interstate 90 on Sunday? I am going to be in a town near Rodchester, MN and I will need to get to Des Moines, IA by Sunday night. If you think they will close, when would be the best time to leave on Sunday in order to avoid any closures? Thank you.

Posted by Abby | December 20, 2008 12:16 AM

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