Will get a break in precipitation on Sunday with partly sunny to mostly cloudy skies expected. There may be a few flurries around on Sunday but nothing that would accumulate.
A few flurries are possible on Monday, but for the most part it looks like another dry day across the Northland.
I’m keeping an eye on a system moving out of the Northern Rockies on Tuesday. This system could bring another round of snow to much of the Northland sometime Tuesday or Tuesday night the way it looks now, and there is another system showing up in the models for later in the week (~October 22-23) this one could also bring some more snow or rain to our area. Stay tuned.
A fresh coating of slushy snow in the Twin Ports today, Saturday, October 17, 2020 – These photos are from the Fond du Lac (Duluth, MN) St. Louis River areas.
The forecast for the most part was spot on today, but like always there seems to be one last minute adjustment in the models as to where the main swath of precipitation sets up, and today’s event was no exception.
Snow totals were generally in the 1 to 4 inch range today (thru 5 PM Saturday) so not a significant snow event for our area, but this was the first widespread snow event to hit our area in the of the 2020-2021 snow season, and that first snowfall is always a shock to see no matter how long you’ve lived here, I mean it happens every year, but still comes as a bit of a surprise, not sure why that is?
| Snowfall Reports from Saturday, October 17, 2020 Source: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/ 3 ESE Tobique, MN: 3.5″ 1 W Grand Rapids, MN: 3.3″ Balsam, MN: 2.5″ 2 WSW Lester Park, MN: 2.3″ 1 SE Hill City, MN: 2.3″ 1 N Cloquet, MN: 2.1″ Bigfork, MN: 2.0″ Duluth Airport: 1.9″ 3 W Iron Junction, MN: 1.8″ 3 ESE Twig, MN: 1.8″ 1 W Washburn, WI: 1.8″ 2 SW Tamarack, MN: 1.7″ Hill City, MN: 1.5″ Nisswa, MN: 1.0″ 4 NNW New Post, WI: 0.8″ International Falls, MN: Trace Note: Record snowfall at Duluth, Minnesota for October 17th is 3.2″ set in 1990, so not quite enough snow today to break the daily snowfall record. |
Still seeing some patchy light snow and drizzle in parts of the Northland late this Saturday afternoon but little if any additional snow accumulation is expected this evening.
Here’s a radar loop of today’s snow and rain event which impacted a large portion of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. Note: Heavier precipitation in darker green and yellow colors.
Loop time ends around 5:10 PM Saturday, October 17, 2020.
Source: https://weather.cod.edu/
30s across most of the Northland today, but 40s did make it as far north as Hinckley and Hayward, but even this is below normal for mid-October. If you want above normal temps, one would have to travel to far southern Minnesota where it was in the 60s this afternoon.
A lot of clouds over northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin today, but look upstream across northwest Minnesota where skies are mostly sunny this afternoon, this area of clearing should work its way into the Northland giving us at least a bit of sunshine at times on Sunday, but it will remain on the chilly side with highs only in the 30s to around 40 degrees.
Source: https://weather.cod.edu/
One thing we often see in a La Nina (which we are in now and are forecast to be in thru winter) is an active storm track across the northern US, and sure enough that is what we have been seeing lately as fast moving low pressure systems track west and south of a large upper level low across central Canada.
Water vapor loop from Saturday, October 17, 2020.
Source: https://weather.cod.edu/
Thanks for reading!
Tim
