Thursday’s setup looks a little interesting, with the potential for lake effect snow not just along the South Shore of Lake Superior, but also on the North Shore, including Duluth. However, the North Shore’s chances are a bit lower since winds are expected to come more from the north rather than the northeast or east. There’s also a possibility of a convergence zone forming near Lake Superior, which will be worth watching, as plenty of cold air will be moving over the lake to generate snow, and there’s still a good amount of open water providing moisture.
At the moment, the NWS Blend of Models is indicating only light snowfall for Thursday, with trace amounts up to 1″ mainly along the South Shore in far northern Wisconsin, though this could change within the next 24 hours.
Note: Model guidance hints at an active clipper pattern returning in early February, which could bring more frequent chances for snow in the Northland, though these are likely to be just light snowfall events.
The weather pattern stays locked in a cold phase, with a persistent trough and northwest flow aloft holding over the northern and eastern U.S., while bursts of cold air keep spilling south from central Canada.
Temperatures at 850mb aren’t as frigid as last weekend, but they’re still quite cold, and while 500mb heights aren’t as low as before, they’re still low enough to signal cold Arctic air.
Note: Over the next few nights and mornings, temperatures in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin will vary between single digits to around 20 below zero, with daytime highs hovering between 1 below and 9 above zero through at least Friday.
Subzero temperatures were reported again in the Northland Tuesday morning, but they were not as cold as in previous days.
The official low in Duluth on Tuesday morning was -7 degrees, marking the 11th straight day with temperatures dipping below zero.
High temperatures in the Northland today were in the single digits to around 10°F, which is about 15 degrees below normal for January 27th.
Leave a Reply