An active weather pattern continues into next week. The Northland will continue to see rain or snow showers Sunday which should be followed by one dry day on Monday, but chances for rain and possibly a little snow will be on the increase Tuesday, and more rain chances are lined up late next week, with potentially a major storm (mainly a rain event) impacting parts of the upper Midwest around October 20-22.
Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until Midnight tonight for far northeast Minnesota including the North Shore of Lake Superior. Some cities included in the advisory are Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Tofte, Grand Marais, Whyte, Isabella and Forest Center. Additional snow accumulations up to 2 inches especially in higher elevations of the North Shore.
Goes-16 visible satellite imagery from October 12, 2019 capturing Saturday morning’s sunrise and two powerful storms. One across the upper Midwest, the other off the Mid-Atlantic coast. Source: https://weather.cod.edu
And here’s the Goes-16 water vapor imagery from Saturday, October 12, 2019. Impressive looking fall storm spinning over the upper Midwest today.
Always fascinating how different the weather can be in the Twin Ports, and today was no exception. As is often the case with early season snow events, elevation and proximity to Lake Superior make a big difference in what type of precipitation you saw today.
Higher elevated areas of Duluth (on top of the hill) saw mainly snow today with a light coating of accumulation, the elevation at the Duluth Airport is 1427 feet which helps a lot.
Locations below the hill in Duluth had some snow earlier today, but precipitation has mainly been in the form of rain this afternoon with a few attempts for the rain to change back to snow late this afternoon. Elevation at the Duluth Harbor is 610 feet which plays a role as to why we can get snow on top of the hill and rain below the hill with these early season winter weather events.
Low temperature forecast for Sunday morning, October 13. Source: https://graphical.weather.gov
High temperature forecast for Sunday, October 13
Snowfall reports from around the Northland; source https://www.weather.gov/dlh/
Saturday, October 12, 2019
- 20 ESE Sea Gull Lake, MN: 9.0″
- 5 N Lutsen, MN: 5.0″
- 20 N Grand Marais, MN: 4.0″
- 5.6 SSW Pine River, MN: 3.4″
- 1 N Big Falls, MN: 3.1″
- 5.1 N Pillager, MN: 3.0″
- Kelsey, MN: 3.0″
- 3 NE Brainerd, MN: 2.5″
- Grand Rapids, MN: 1.4″
- 7 N Mcgregor, MN: 1.0″
- 1 N Cloquet, MN: 1.0″
- Duluth Airport: 0.8″
- 3 E Wright, MN: 0.5″
- Cotton, MN: 0.5″
- Cook, MN: 0.5″
- International Falls, MN: 0.2″
- 0.6 SSW Grantsburg, WI: 0.2″
…Weather Summary…
Widespread light snow, rain and drizzle were found in the Northland today due to a strong low pressure system which was over northern Minnesota today. There have been bursts of heavier snowfall throughout the day with the snow squall parameters running on the high side in some parts of the area today per SPC meso analysis page.
Scattered snow and rain showers will continue in the Northland tonight into Sunday, although coverage of these showers should become less numerous tonight and should also be less numerous Sunday compared to what we saw on Saturday.
Some breaks in the clouds are expected tonight and Sunday, but overall skies remain mostly cloudy.
Lows tonight will be in the middle 20s to lower 30s with highs Sunday in the middle 30s to lower 40s. Variable wind directions tonight with winds becoming northwest Sunday as low pressure exits off to the NE.
Monday is looking mainly dry at the moment, although it may not be very sunny. Highs remain on the cool side with readings in the lower 40s.
Rain chances return to the Northland on Tuesday as low pressure heads into the upper Midwest. There could be a narrow corridor of a rain/snow mix which develops on the tail end of this system, but this will depend on whether or not temperatures cool enough for a mix to occur. Stay tuned.
Note: There are some indications showing up in long range model guidance for a larger storm to come out of the Rockies or Southern Plains around October 20-22, although right now it looks warm enough where rain would be the main precipitation type with this system. Still a lot of time for things to change.
Forecast for Duluth and Superior
.Tonight… Mostly cloudy with scattered snow showers inland and rain and snow showers near Lake Superior. Low 30 to 34. Wind south to southwest 10 to 15 mph.
.Sunday… Mostly cloudy (few sunny breaks) Scattered snow and rain showers in the morning, a few showers in the afternoon. High 39 to 43. Wind west to northwest 10 to 20 mph.
.Monday… Partly to mostly cloudy. High 40 to 45. Wind southwest 10 to 15 mph.
Normal temperatures for October 13
- High 53
- Low 36
- Sunrise Sunday 7:24 AM CDT
- Sunset Sunday 6:26 PM CDT
Thanks for reading!
