Updraft
< Instant spring at Target Field; flood threat; Japan fallout | Main | NWS issues new river forecasts; Snow melt "microclimates" >

Snow Cover: Going ... going ... gone?

Posted at 5:47 PM on March 15, 2011 by Paul Huttner (1 Comments)
Filed under: Flooding, Winter/spring 2011

It's amazing what a little rain can do.

Did you feel it? Did you hear the pitter patter? Did you feel the raindrops on your face? Did you hear sound of liquid water splashing on the street?

Tuesday's rain was like water therapy for winter weary Minnesotans. With showers and temps in the 40s it actually looked, sounded and felt like spring in Minnesota.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 14 1radar.gif
Narrow band of showers sails east.

While totals were light (MSP Airport .02"), the effect on snow cover was noticeable. We started the day with 6" on the ground at MSP Airport, that number will drop daily this week, and it looks like we'll be left with a few dirty snow piles by this weekend.

More rain on the way:

Tuesday's rain was the first bout this week. We could see a few sprinkles late Wednesday and it looks like another shot of light rain may slide through Thursday.

I'm still watching the potential for a bigger rainmaker Saturday night into early Sunday. This system is likely to produce more widespread steady rainfall, and early indications are rainfall totals could add up to .50" or more.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 14 1 rainers.PNG

The GFS is hinting at another potential rainmaker (snow north?) next Tuesday.

With 50s this week, and nights above freezing our snowcover should pretty much be toast after the rain Sunday.

Good riddance I say!

Flood update Thursday:

I posted this morning about the latest flood risk.

I picked up some signals that the hydrologists at the NCRFC are busy crunching new numbers that factor in this week's warm-up and rainfall forecasts. Another flood outlook is due out Thursday, and there may be some significant changes to river forecasts.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 14 1 st paul.png
Rivers slightly responding to snow melt Tuesday??

Stay tuned!

PH

Comments (1)

Too bad the rain this weekend and possibly next Tuesday isn't going to be snow

Posted by Mark Weinberger | March 15, 2011 6:39 PM

Recent Entries

March 2011
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 30 31    


Master Archive

Recent Entries

MPR News
Radio

Listen Now

On Air

BBC World Service

Schedule

Shortcuts
Hourly Newscast
Hosts
Station Map

Other Radio Streams from MPR

Classical MPR
Radio Heartland

Services

Become a sponsor