Another night, more wind chill headlines!
Wind chill advisory for all of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin from 8 PM this evening to 10 AM Monday.
Source: https://weather.cod.edu
21z RAP model 3-3-2019
No snow with tonight’s lobe of vorticity which moves through the area, but a stronger lobe of vorticity moves through Monday afternoon-evening, and this will increase the chance for some snow showers across northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.
Source: https://weathermodels.com
18z NAM-WRF model 3-3-19
This looks worse than it will be as we’re only expecting to see light snow showers across the area spreading from NW-SE from late Monday morning through Monday evening, but with how cold it is, there could be some slick spots on the roads during the afternoon/evening hours.
Source: https://weather.cod.edu
Goes-16 water vapor satellite loop from Sunday, March 3, 2019. A couple polar lows moving south/east across central and eastern Canada today while a strong storm system impacts parts of the southern/eastern U.S.
Source: https://weather.cod.edu
It’s so cold across much of Canada into the northern tier of the U.S. that it’s being picked up on Goes-16 infrared satellite imagery today (shows up as purple, blue and green colors on map) as temperatures ‘modify’ during the afternoon the colder colors begin to shrink on the western-southern-eastern edges.
Heads up! Computer models are cooking up a storm for next weekend, but the storm track is very uncertain. This time of year we often see high pressure develop near Hudson Bay Canada which can force March storms farther south and away from the Northland, still a lot of time left to watch computer model trends.
Source: https://hprcc.unl.edu
Temperature departure map for the week of February 24, 2019 — Well below average temps across the area last week, some 12 to 18 degrees below normal, very impressive!
Source: https://hprcc.unl.edu
Precipitation departure map for the week of February 24, 2019 — Above normal precipitation totals last week across northwest Wisconsin and portions of eastern Minnesota (green and blue colors on map) Near to below normal precipitation across northern Minnesota.
Temperature and Precipitation report for Duluth, Minnesota
February 24-March 2, 2019
High Temperatures/Departure from Normal
2/24: 29 F/+2 degrees above normal
2/25: 2 F/-25 degrees below normal
2/26: 11 F/-17 degrees below normal
2/27: 14 F/-14 degrees below normal
2/28: 23 F/-5 degrees below normal
3/1: 18 F/-11 degrees below normal
3/2: 12 F/-17 degrees below normal
Low Temperatures/Departure from Normal
2/24: -6 F/-15 degrees below normal
2/25: -14 F/-24 degrees below normal
2/26: -11 F/-21 degrees below normal
2/27: 2 F/-9 degrees below normal
2/28: -4 F/-15 degrees below normal
3/1: 6 F/-5 degrees below normal
3/2: -5 F/-17 degrees below normal
Note: Average temperature for the week of February 24: 5.5 degrees (-13.8 degrees below normal) Source: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us
Total precipitation: 0.31 inches
Normal: 0.28 inches
Departure: +0.03 inches above normal
State Average for Minnesota for the week of February 24, 2019
Source: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us
Temperature: 4.0 degrees
Departure: -17.2 degrees below normal
Precipitation: 0.45 inches
Departure: +0.23 inches above normal
Note: 7 weeks in a row and counting where the average temperature was below normal at Duluth, Minnesota — See list below
•January 13-19: Average temperature: 8.4 degrees (-1.4 degrees below normal)
•January 20-26: Average temperature: 0.1 degrees (-9.9 degrees below normal)
•January 27-February 2: Average temperature: -6.3 degrees (-17.2 degrees below normal)
•February 3-9: Average temperature: 7.9 degrees (-4.5 degrees below normal)
•February 10-16: Average temperature: 13.6 degrees (-0.7 degrees below normal)
•February 17-23: Average temperature: 15.0 degrees (-1.7 degrees below normal)
•February 24-March 2: Average temperature: 5.5 degrees (-13.8 degrees below normal)
Low temperature reports from Sunday morning, March 3, 2019
Source: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/
Crane Lake, MN: -29 F
Kettle River, MN: -27 F
3 W Clam Lake, WI: -26 F
Eveleth-Virginia Airport: -26 F
Babbitt, MN: -24 F
Embarrass, MN: -24 F
Barnes, WI: -23 F
International Falls, MN: -23 F
2 ENE Oliver, WI: -23 F
Pine River, MN: -22 F
Cook, MN: -21 F
2 NNW Cotton, MN: -21 F
Bruno, MN: -21 F
Walker, MN: -21 F
Aitkin, MN: -20 F
Brainerd, MN: -20 F
Bigfork, MN: -20 F
Chisholm-Hibbing Airport: -20 F
1 W Isabella, MN: -20 F
7 WNW Minong, WI: -20 F
Orr, MN: -20 F
Hayward, WI: -19 F
Hinckley, MN: -18 F
Moose Lake, MN: -18 F
Grand Marais Airport: -17 F
Cloquet, MN: -17 F
Grand Rapids, MN: -17 F
2 SW Proctor, MN: -17 F
Two Harbors, MN: -17 F
Ashland, WI: -16 F
Duluth Airport: -15 F
Silver Bay, MN: -15 F
Glidden, WI: -15 F
Superior Airport: -15 F
Wind Chill reports from Sunday morning, March 3, 2019
Source: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/
3 W Clam Lake, WI: -41 F
Eveleth-Virginia Airport: -41 F
Brainerd, MN: -38 F
International Falls, MN: -38 F
2 SW Proctor, MN: -37 F
Bruno, MN: -37 F
Walker, MN: -37 F
Bigfork, MN: -36 F
Hinckley, MN: -35 F
Cloquet, MN: -35 F
Cook, MN: -35 F
Duluth Airport: -35 F
Grand Rapids, MN: -35 F
Siren, WI: -35 F
Two Harbors, MN: -35 F
Ashland, WI: -34 F
Duluth Harbor: -34 F
Ely, MN: -34 F
Chisholm-Hibbing Airport: -34 F
Aitkin, MN: -32 F
Orr, MN: -32 F
Grand Marais Airport: -30 F
Moose Lake, MN: -30 F
Weather Synopsis for Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin
This is about as cold as it can get around here in early March!
A frigid airmass overhead with Sunday afternoon 850mb temperatures of -26 to -28C. 500mb heights down to around 516 decameters with thickness values of ~498 to 500 meters per 21z RAP model analysis.
The good news is that we have a higher sun angle in March compared to January, so with today’s sunshine, it didn’t feel quite as frigid outside, but still not very pleasant either. Highs today were within a few degrees of zero, either in the positive or negative digits — This is well below normal for March 3rd (normal highs are in the upper 20s to around 30 degrees)
Tonight: You guessed it! More frigid stuff along with dangerously cold wind chills. Will have clear to partly cloudy skies tonight with more clouds possibly moving in later in the night. Lows tonight in the teens and 20s below zero with west winds gusting to around 15 mph which will send wind chills into the 25 to 35 below range.
Monday: Some more snow on the way, how cool is that? It won’t be a lot of snow, in fact most of us should only see around a half inch of snow accumulation, but a few lucky or unlucky spots could squeeze out 1 or even 2 inches of snow, but those should be few and far between. This snow will be caused by a trough of low pressure which moves SE into the upper Midwest on Monday while some additional lift is provided by some vorticity which will pass through the Northland during the afternoon/evening hours. Partly sunny to mostly cloudy skies on Monday with highs ranging from 8 to 14 degrees.
Note: There won’t be much improvement in 850mb temperatures through mid-week with -20 to -25C H85 temps Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon, and around -20C Wednesday afternoon, this keeps us in the freezer at least through mid-week.
…Looking Ahead…
Looks dry mid to late week with cold temperatures continuing. Could see some changes for next weekend as low pressure could impact portions of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes bringing with it some accumulating snow, but there is a lot of uncertainty on the storm track, and its very possible this system stays well south of our area.
Forecast for Duluth and Superior
Alerts — Wind Chill Advisory 8 PM this evening to 10 AM Monday
.Tonight… Frigid. Clear to partly cloudy. Low 9 below to 14 below. Wind west at 5 to 15 mph. Wind chills 25 to 35 below. Note: Record low for Monday (March 4) is -18 degrees set in 1875!
.Monday… Cold. Partly sunny to mostly cloudy. Snow showers and flurries arriving during the afternoon. High 8 to 13. Wind west to southwest at 10 to 20 mph. Morning wind chills 25 to 35 below.
Normal temperatures for March 4
High: 30
Low: 13
Sunrise Monday: 6:43 AM CST
Sunset Monday: 5:58 PM CST
Tim