Updraft: December 31, 2009 Archive

A cold night to ring in the New Year

Posted at 7:06 AM on December 31, 2009 by Craig Edwards

From the National Weather Service in Marquette...A north flow of cold air developing over the Upper Great Lakes today will persist through the weekend between arctic high pressure in the northern Plains and deepening low pressure off the New England coast. As this cold air crosses the relatively warm waters of Lake Superior, persistent lake effect snow showers will produce significant snowfall totals over western and north central Upper Michigan to start the new year.

It will be a nippy night to ring in the New Year. To our favor the winds will not be blustery.

Thumbing through the Old Farmer's Almanac, I noticed they predicted COLD for our region from the first through the seventh. Not a bad forecast, since we are typically cold this time of year. We sometimes refer to these forecasts as experiential. Been there; seen that.

A couple inches of wet snow are possible for the Big Apple today. Cool temperatures on tap this evening as the ball drops in Time Square.

Find a warm spot to celebrate the end of the decade or the start of a new one.
CE

Sleep in Saturday morning

Posted at 12:11 PM on December 31, 2009 by Craig Edwards

Image of computer forecast of surface temperatures and pressure for Saturday morning. Dark red is a forecast of less than 30 below zero at 6am Saturday.

Hope you are enjoying the relatively comfortable temperatures and the sunshine this afternoon. We are in for a character building spell of cold weather to start the New Year.

High pressure settles over Minnesota Saturday morning setting the stage for ideal conditions to radiate surface heat back into space.

Interesting to note on the computer forecast the coldest readings on Saturday morning will be where the winds go calm and the snow pack is deep in southwest Minnesota. And of course the Ice Box of the Nation, International Falls will check in with 30 below zero as well.
CE

Taking it ten days at a time

Posted at 3:13 PM on December 31, 2009 by Craig Edwards (2 Comments)

Here's the Climate Prediction Center's January temperature outlook.

NOAA's climate expert put a lot of emphasis on the developing moderate El Nino in the Pacific when they made this outlook in mid December. Statistical studies have documented the odds favoring milder than normal winters in our region during El Nino episodes.

If we can make it through the first week to ten days of January we may be optimistic about finding a recovery on the thermometer. Until then you'll be able to get full use out of your Minnesota layered wardrobe.

Six to ten day temperature outlook.

Remember that this period is on the brink of coldest seasonal temperatures of winter. The normal maximum and minimum for the Twin Cities in early January is 21 and 4, respectively. Bring on normal!
CE

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