/Issued 5:12 PM CST, Friday, February 23, 2018/
Here’s my snowfall accumulation map for Saturday night’s storm. More info. below.
Winter weather headlines map for Saturday evening through Sunday morning.
Source: http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov
Forecast maps for Saturday through Sunday morning.
Source: https://www.tropicaltidbits.com
18z GFS model 500mb forecast from 6 AM Saturday to 6 AM Sunday. This will be a very dynamic storm as it moves out of the Rockies/southern Plains on Saturday, as the trough lifts into the upper Midwest and upper Great Lakes Saturday night its expected to take on a bit of a negative tilt.
Source: https://www.tropicaltidbits.com
12z WRF-ARW model — Future radar from Noon Saturday to 6 AM Sunday. Note: Snow shows up as blue colors on the map below.
Snow should begin to fall in southern sections of the Northland between 4-6 PM Saturday. The snow will spread farther north after 6 PM Saturday.
Source: http://mrcc.isws.illinois.edu
Source: http://www.spc.noaa.gov
Snowfall Reports for February 22-23, 2018
Source: http://www.weather.gov/dlh/
2 N Barrows, MN: 8.0 inches
East Gull Lake, MN: 7.9 inches
2 W Hayward, WI: 7.8 inches
3 NE Brainerd, MN: 7.6 inches
3 W Clam Lake, WI: 7.5 inches
Libby, MN: 7.4 inches
7 W Phillips, WI: 7.0 inches
Brainerd, MN: 7.0 inches
Hayward, WI: 7.0 inches
2 ENE Hibbing, MN: 7.0 inches
2 NNE Lester Park, MN: 6.5 inches
2 NW Duluth, MN: 6.2 inches
7 N McGregor, MN: 6.1 inches
Gordon, WI: 6.0 inches
9 N Bayfield, WI: 6.0 inches
Twig, MN: 6.0 inches
Gile, WI: 6.0 inches
Drummond, WI: 6.0 inches
1 N Solon Springs, WI: 6.0 inches
Cotton, MN: 5.8 inches
Ashland, WI: 5.7 inches
5 NW Knife River, MN: 5.5 inches
4 E Iron River, WI: 5.5 inches
Keewatin, MN: 5.3 inches
4 W Grand Marais, MN: 5.2 inches
Phillips, WI: 5.1 inches
4 S Bruno, MN: 5.0 inches
Gary New Duluth, MN: 5.0 inches
2 SW Lester Park, MN: 5.0 inches
7 SW Grand Rapids, MN: 5.0 inches
1 N Cloquet, MN: 5.0 inches
4 N Floodwood, MN: 5.0 inches
5 N Virginia, MN: 5.0 inches
1.5 SW Hinckley, MN: 5.0 inches
Duluth Airport: 4.9 inches
Holyoke, MN: 4.8 inches
Island Lake, MN: 4.8 inches
Herbster, WI: 4.8 inches
Kelly Lake, MN: 4.8 inches
Oulu, WI: 4.7 inches
Kettle River, MN: 4.5 inches
1 NE West Duluth, MN: 4.5 inches
1 SW Washburn, WI: 4.5 inches
2 WSW Lutsen, MN: 4.4 inches
3 W Two Harbors, MN: 4.4 inches
Grantsburg, WI: 4.3 inches
Ely, MN: 4.2 inches
Embarrass, MN: 4.0 inches
1 NNE Cloquet, MN: 4.0 inches
Cook, MN: 4.0 inches
Cass Lake, MN: 3.5 inches
International Falls, MN: 1.0 inch
Note: Duluth, Minnesota had its 2nd snowiest February 23 on record and their 4th wettest February 23 on record today. Snowfall total was 3.4 inches (Snowiest, 3.9 inches on 2/23/1893) Precipitation total 0.28 inches (Wettest 0.52 inches on 2/23/1922)
Storm Timeline for Duluth and Superior
•Saturday: Increasing cloudiness with temperatures in the mid 20s to around 30 degrees. Wind becoming east to northeast at 5 to 15 mph.
•Saturday evening: East to northeast wind increases to 15 to 25 mph with gusts over 30 mph possible. Strongest wind gusts roughly 5 PM Saturday to 3 AM Sunday.
•Snow developing Saturday evening, between 6-9 PM. Heavy snow is possible with snowfall rates around an inch per hour Saturday night.
•Brief whiteout conditions are possible at the height of the storm Saturday night.
•Snow ends Sunday morning between 6-8 AM.
•Snowfall storm totals of 4 to 6 inches are expected by Sunday morning.
…Model trends for the Saturday night storm…
-There is some uncertainty on the track of this storm with most computer models showing a slightly farther east track to the low, however, the NAM is more to the west, and that hasn’t changed much over the past few model runs. If the other computer models trend toward the NAM, then I would have to nudge the 6-9 inch snow zone slightly further west to include the North Shore and Duluth areas.
-Regardless of the storm’s track, it looks like a quick hitter, so I’m not really seeing anyone getting more than 9 inches of snow out of this storm, of course there always seems to be a surprise or two with these snow events so will just have to wait and see how this one goes. Even though this storm will move through quickly, it will still pack a punch with heavy snowfall rates of one inch or more per hour possible for several hours Saturday night especially for northwest Wisconsin.
-Snow is expected to overspread the Northland from south to north — Starting in southern areas late Saturday afternoon, then progressing farther north/east Saturday evening (Quite similar to Thursday night’s snow event)
-Snow is forecast to end from SW-NE Sunday morning.
Tim