Updraft: December 5, 2011 Archive

December chill, but be cautious of thin ice

Posted at 6:28 AM on December 5, 2011 by Craig Edwards
Filed under: Cold, Ice, Snow

Snowfall graphic from Chanhassen NWS from Saturday and Saturday night.

Click here for a list of snowfall reports from the NWS Chanhassen Office.

A large swath of Minnesota missed out on the Saturday snowfall. Lakes will ice over and the ice will thicken at different rates depending on the micro-climate. Snow covered lakes/ponds are likely to be insulated somewhat in southeast Minnesota and ice may be slow to thicken despite the cold temperatures.

Before venturing out on regional lakes please check for ice thickness with the DNR. Here's a link on ice safety.

Once again the moisture deprived region of from Redwood Falls to Ortonville missed out on Saturday's precipitation.

The snow to water ratio varied from the Twin Cities to Winona. Rochester received 3.4 inches of snow with 0.34 inches of liquid. In Chanhassen, the snowfall was 3.2 inches with liquid precipitation 0.16 inches. That difference in moisture content identifies the challenge of predicting snow amounts based on expected liquid precipitation.

A cold week is in store for the Great Lakes region. I'll avoid using the term "warm-up", but a moderation is expected on the weekend.

In other weather news, more heavy rain is on tap from Indiana into Kentucky and Ohio. Louisville, Kentucky has accumulated nearly 64 inches of moisture in 2011, 22 inches above normal for the year.

Here's a snap shot of the radar from early this morning.

CE