Issued at 12:26 PM CST, Monday, February 9th, 2009
*Ice Storm Warning* continues until 6 AM CST Tuesday for Duluth.
At 17z low pressure averaging 987 mb was centered over Northcentral Nebraska…Or to the northwest of Broken Bow near the town of Thedford. Some of the lower pressure readings I could find at Noon Today include…
29.05″ at Thedford Nebraska
29.11″ at North Platte Nebraska
29.06″ at Valentine Nebraska
Strong 2 hour pressure falls of 4 mb were centered over Southern South Dakota and Northern Nebraska late This Morning so we should see the surface low head up into that general area through the Afternoon hours.
Very impressive 12 hour H5 height falls of 210 meters were centered over Southern Nebraska and the Northern-Central parts of Kansas This Morning all in part to this powerul February storm.
H85 temperatures late This Morning ranged from +2 to +8 degrees C around Minnesota with a +4 degree C 850 mb temperature at Duluth.
PWATS across the state ranged from .50″-.80″ This Morning with a .70″ PWAT here in Duluth as of 11 AM Today.
First batch of freezing rain mixed at times with some sleet continued to lift north-northeast out of Northern Minnesota early This Afternoon…Behind this steadier band of precipitation, we’ve seen scattered areas of freezing rain or sleet develop and lift in a northerly direction through Northeast Minnesota.
Preliminary ice accumulations up thru late This Morning include:
0.15″ at Silver Bay (Lake County MN)
0.10″ at Littlefork (Koochiching County MN)
0.10″ 4 miles East of Payne (St. Louis County MN)
0.10″ 5 miles Southwest of Brainerd (Crow Wing County MN)
Surface temperatures as of Noon Today ranged from 31 degrees at the Duluth Airport to 32 degrees at the Duluth Harbor… Surface temps along the North Shore of Lake Superior were in the upper 20s to 30 degrees. Dewpoints were running around 3-6 degrees lower than the surface temperature at Noon Today.
We have some room in the atmosphere for the temperature to drop thanks to the dewpoints which were lower than the surface temp…As additional precipitation develops and tracks into the area This Afternoon, the surface temperature may fall a degree or two, unless the dewpoints begin to climb, I really don’t see that happening though.
Most of the Afternoon should be free of widespread precipitation here in the city, but scattered showers of freezing rain or sleet will persist…A steadier band of freezing rain or rain, or possibly some sleet will arrive This Evening, but it probably won’t last very long.
I don’t believe will meet the criteria for an Ice Storm Warning which is to get at least one quarter inch of ice accumulation… The local weather service in Duluth has no plans of changing this headline as of yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them downgrade the warning later Today, unless something changes.
Stay tuned for more updates
Tim
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