Updraft: March 6, 2009 Archive

Getting out of Dodge

Posted at 8:56 AM on March 6, 2009 by Craig Edwards

Actually, if you like warmth, Dodge City, Kansas was in the lower 80s on Thursday. But hardly the location I would seek out for a spring break. High fire danger in the that part of the country with relative humidities less than ten percent on Thursday afternoon.

Back at the ranch, I don't see much in the way of travel problems for your Friday night and Saturday. A warm front in southern Iowa (it was 73 in Des Moines on Thursday), will be the focus of strong thunderstorms and locally heavy rain in the next 36 hours. That moisture will be choked off from reaching the Twin Cities.

I am thinking that a system coming out of Nebraska on Saturday evening will be strong enough to push moisture into southern Minnesota, meeting up with the chilly air mass. Thus, presto-chango, we could find ourselves watching snowflakes fly on Sunday morning.

From inside the Bureau think tank

Want to get really fired-up about snow, stay tuned for what Tuesday might bring.

CE
natures messenger.com

Maple sap weather

Posted at 2:48 PM on March 6, 2009 by Paul Huttner

Tapped maple trees near the Huttner Weather Lab producing sap nicley today.

It's that time of year.

Howie Bennis is a former mayor of Deephaven. I don't know what Howie does full time these days, but I know he'll be busy tapping trees and collecting sap when he's not plowing my driveway in the next week. He's the kind of neighbor you come to appreciate.

March is maple sap month in Minnesota. Our combination of days in the 40's and lows below freezing is perfect to get the sap running.

Winter and spring wage a battle for seasonal supremacy this month. Winter won the first three days, but spring has staged a come back with 3 consecutive days in the 40's in the metro. 50's ruled in southern Minnesota Thursday.

It looks like winter is ready to show we're not done just yet. One system will pass south of us on Sunday. The forecast models are still presenting divergent solutions on where the snow will fall, and how much we'll get in the metro. Some of the models keep the bulk of the snow south of the metro. Some bring it right up into the metro and suggest we could see several inches.

It appears the one thing they agree on is that a band of heavy snow will fall Sunday in southern Minnesota. Fairmont, Albert Lea, Rochester and Eau Claire should have enough to shovel and plow by Sunday night. The Twin Cities is on the northern edge of this one. If you are planning travel south this weekend, expect to run into snow overnight Saturday and Sunday.

Things still look ripe for a potentially big snow next Tuesday. It's a long ways out, but the potential is there.

Enjoy the weekend, and keep a weather eye to the south.

PH