Updraft: November 16, 2010 Archive

Winter Weather/Hazard Awareness

Posted at 3:18 PM on November 16, 2010 by Craig Edwards
Filed under: Winter

While we were enjoying a couple of days in the sixties early last week and then turned our attention to a weekend snow storm we overlooked the important information on Winter Weather and Hazard Awareness. If you were in the region that received a dump of heavy snow you had the opportunity to recall winter hazards.

A link for Winter Awareness information.

For recollection, I've posted the graphic of the thirty-year average snowfall for Minnesota. As we often said at the Weather Service, there is snow and there is quality snow. A heavy wet snow early in the autumn or late in the winter can create a calamity. But a high quality, accumulating snow in late November through February is wonderful for outdoor recreation. A six inch base that lasts awhile creates trails for for cross-country skiing and taking to the snowmobile tracks. Ski lodges augment the accumulation when conditions are favorable.

I admit that as I age gracefully winter becomes less thrilling. And when I alip-up and mention that I've had enough of the snow, I get the response, "You're not from around here."

The winter outlook from NOAA gives hope of a more typical winter in the upper Midwest. Later this month the Climate Prediction Center will release an update on the winter forecast. So far this snow season (there is no designated official date to launch the season) Duluth has accumulated more than eighteen inches.