Source: https://www.tropicaltidbits.com
18z 3km NAM model 5-19-2019
•Monday is shaping up to be a much nicer day compared to the last few days around here.
•Winds will be much lighter and will be variable in direction with no strong lake breeze on Monday.
•Unfortunately this nice weather won’t stick around long. Strong east winds return Tuesday afternoon with some rain later in the day or Tuesday night.
Source: https://www.spc.noaa.gov
It takes quite a few things coming together to produce snow in May.
We’ve had quite a few snow events this May in Duluth, snow in May isn’t that unusual around here, but it’s the amount of snow and frequency of snow that we’ve seen this May that has been very impressive.
Storm ingredients today were quite similar to the last snow event that hit us on May 8-9.
Strong low pressure to our southeast with cold air at 850mb and 925mb.
Precipitation lifts north and with strong lift on the NW side of the low this helps to pull down the cold air from aloft, this in turn causes the surface temperatures to fall to the mid 30s which is cold enough when you have intense lift and heavy precipitation rates to produce snow.
Source: https://www.ecmwf.int
12z European computer model 5-19-2019
A break in the wet/snowy weather is on the way for Monday and most of Tuesday, but the pattern is reloading with wet weather forecast to return by the middle of the week.
Source: https://www.tropicaltidbits.com
Infrared satellite loop from Sunday, May 19, 2019.
Powerful storm lifting northeast through the Great Lakes today while the next system digs south/east across the western U.S.
Source: https://graphical.weather.gov
Low temperature forecast for Monday morning, May 20, 2019.
Looking at another cool, below normal night with lows in the 30s with a few spots as cold as the 20s. Normal lows in mid May are in the low to mid 40s.
Source: https://graphical.weather.gov
High temperature forecast for Monday, May 20, 2019.
Highs Monday getting close to where they should be at this time of year with highs in the upper 50s to lower 60s, but this is still a few degrees below normal for May 20, but certainly a lot better compared to what most of us dealt with this weekend.
Source: https://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov
Soil moisture continues to run in the 95th to 99th percentile over a large portion of the upper Midwest as of May 18, 2019, in other words the ground is very wet/saturated anywhere you see green colors on the map below, darker the green the wetter it is.
Ridiculously cold for mid May! Check out these temperatures from Noon Sunday, May 19, 2019. Barely above freezing at Moose Lake and Cloquet, while in Solon Springs the temperature was sitting right at the freezing mark early this Sunday afternoon. Normal highs on the 19th of May are in the middle 60s!
Local Storm Reports for May 19, 2019
Source: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/
•9:00 AM: Non-Thunderstorm Wind Gust. 68 mph. 9 ESE Beaver Bay, MN. Burns Harbor reported sustained 50 mph winds with peak gusts of 66 mph.
•9:00 AM: Non-Thunderstorm Wind Gust. 74 mph. 4 NNE Superior, WI. American Spirit reported winds NE 50 mph with gusts to 74 mph in Western Lake Superior.
•7:45 AM: Non-Thunderstorm Wind Damage. 3 NE Munger, MN (St. Louis County) 8 inch diameter tree down on roadway.
Note: Minnesota Power reported about 700 customers without electricity in and near Duluth due to the high winds earlier Sunday morning.
Snowfall Reports from May 19, 2019
Source: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/
3 S Wentworth, WI: 5.8 inch
Bennett, WI: 5.0 inch
Blueberry, WI: 5.0 inch
Foxboro, WI: 4.5 inch
1 SE Oulu, WI: 4.0 inch
3 SW Lake Nebagamon, WI: 3.5 inch
Duluth Airport: 2.4 inch
Kettle River, MN: 1.8 inch
1 N Cloquet, MN: 1.5 inch
1 NNW Washburn, WI: 1.3 inch
6 SW Webb Lake, WI: 1.2 inch
4 E Cloverdale, MN: 1.0 inch
Highest Wind Reports from May 19, 2019
Source: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/
Blatnik Bridge: 60 mph
Duluth Harbor: 49 mph
Thompson Hill I-35: 48 mph
Duluth: 45 mph
Two Harbors: 43 mph
Silver Cliff MN-61: 41 mph
Cloquet: 40 mph
Minong: 39 mph
Bayfield: 38 mph
Superior: 38 mph
Esko: 37 mph
Ashland: 37 mph
Hayward: 35 mph
Brainerd: 34 mph
International Falls: 32 mph
Solon Springs: 32 mph
Moose Lake: 31 mph
Weather Tidbits for Duluth, Minnesota
•Snowfall total for May 2019 sits at 13.3 inches as of Sunday afternoon, May 19. We’ve had more snow in May compared to what fell this past January (10.4″ of snow)
•So far this year, February and May set records for the amount of snow that fell in those months.
•The latest measurable snowfall (at least 0.1 inch accumulation) on record is May 28, this was set in 1965. Snowfall for today, May 19 would be the 4th latest 0.1 inch or greater snow event on record.
•2019 is running around -2.0 degrees colder than normal thru May 18.
Forecast for Duluth
.Tonight… Light rain, snow and drizzle ending early. Little if any additional snow accumulation. Mostly cloudy. Low 31 to 36. Wind north 10 to 20 mph.
.Monday… Becoming mostly sunny. Milder. High 58 to 63 but cooler near Lake Superior. Wind variable 5 to 10 mph.
.Tuesday… Increasing lake wind. Partly to mostly cloudy. High 54 to 59 but cooler near Lake Superior. Wind east 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph developing later in the day.
Normal temperatures for May 20
High: 64
Low: 42
May 20 Sunrise: 5:28 AM CDT
May 20 Sunset: 8:43 PM CDT