Snowfall Potential – NWS Forecast
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Snow Depth 2018
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General Ice Thickness Guidelines
Under 4″ – STAY OFF
4″ – Ice fishing or other activities on foot
5″ – 7″ – Snowmobile or ATV
8″ – 12″ – Car or small pickup
12″ – 15″ – Medium truck
Many factors other than thickness can cause ice to be unsafe.
White ice or “snow ice” is only about half as strong as new clear ice. Double the above thickness guidelines when traveling on white ice.
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High Temps Monday
High temperatures on Monday will be warmer than average across much of the eastern half of the country. Note that most locations across the Ohio Valley will be nearly 15F to nearly 25F above average. In fact, parts of the Central US could see near record highs.
According to NOAA’s WPC, the 5-day precipitation outlook suggests areas of heavy precipitation across parts of the Central US and across the Great Lakes. The storm system responsible for the heavy precipitation will also be responsible for areas of heavy snow across parts of the Upper Midwest. There will also be areas of heavy precipitation across the Northeast this week as the storm lifts into the area. The other big surge of moisture will be across the Western US with many areas seeing several inches of precipitation. This could lead to flooding and widespread heavy snowfall in the high elevations.
1.) Heavy snow shifting northeast from the central Great Plains to the upper Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes, Mon-Tue, Jan 22-23.
2.) Heavy snow for northern New England, Mon-Tue, Jan 22-23.
3.) Heavy rain for New England and the Hudson Valley of New York, Mon-Tue, Jan 22-23.
4.) Heavy snow for the Cascades, northern Sierra Nevada Mountains, and parts of the northern and central Rockies, Wed-Thu, Jan 24-25.
5.) Heavy snow for parts of the northern and central Rockies, Fri, Jan 26.
6.) High winds shifting east from the desert Southwest to the central and southern high Plains, Thu-Fri, Jan 25-26.
7.) Much below-normal temperatures for much of mainland Alaska, Mon-Fri, Jan 22-26.
8.) Periods of high winds for the Alaska Peninsula, parts of southern coastal Alaska, and the Kenai Peninsula, Mon-Fri, Jan 22-26.
9.) A slight to moderate risk of heavy precipitation for parts of the eastern and central U.S., Sat-Mon, Jan 27-29.
10.) A slight risk of heavy precipitation for parts of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies, Sat-Tue, Jan 27-30.
11.) A moderate risk of much below-normal temperatures for southwest mainland Alaska, Sat-Sun, Jan 27-28.
12.) A slight risk of much below-normal temperatures for much of mainland Alaska, the Alaska Peninsula, and the northern Alaska Panhandle, Sat-Fri, Jan 27-Feb 2.
13.) A slight risk of much below-normal temperatures for the northern Great Plains, Wed-Fri, Jan 31-Feb 2.
14.) Severe drought for parts of the Great Plains, Southwest, middle and lower Mississippi Valley, and Southeast.
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By Paul Douglas
Extended Forecast
MONDAY: 3″-8″ MSP. Over 12″ south. Winds: N 15-30. High: 32.
MONDAY NIGHT: Snow ends overnight. Turning blustery. Winds: N 15-30. Low: 18.
TUESDAY: Sunny peaks. Better travel weather. Winds: NW 5-10. High: 26.
WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny. Less wind. Winds: SE 5-10. Wake-up: 9. High: 28.
THURSDAY: Clouds increasing. Thawing out. Winds: SE 8-13. Wake-up: 18. High: 35.
FRIDAY: Patchy clouds. Still relatively mild. Winds: S 10-20. Wake-up: 31. High: 42.
SATURDAY: A colder front. Few flurries. Winds: NW 10-15. Wake-up: 23. High: 28.
SUNDAY: Glimmers of sun, feels like January. Winds: 8-13. Wake-up: 8. High: 19.
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This Day in Weather History
January 22nd
1982: The Twin Cities receive 21.1 inches of snow, with a total of nearly 40 inches on the ground.
1936: Perhaps the coldest wind chill the Twin Cities has ever seen occurs on this day; it hits -67 with the new wind chill formula (-87 with the old formula). The temperature was -34 with a wind speed of 20mph. All traffic in the Twin Cities was severely hampered and a number of fatalities were caused by the cold.
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Average High/Low for Minneapolis
January 22nd
Average High: 24F (Record: 51F set in 1942)
Average Low: 7F (Record: -34F set in 1936)
Record Rainfall: 0.89″ set in 1982
Record Snowfall: 17.2″ set in 1982
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Sunrise/Sunset Times for Minneapolis
January 22nd
Sunrise: 7:42am
Sunset: 5:07pm
Hours of Daylight: ~9 hours & 24 minutes
Daylight GAINED since yesterday: ~ 2 minutes & 10 seconds
Daylight GAINED since winter solstice (December 21st): 38 minutes
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Moon Phase for January 22nd at Midnight
1.6 Days Before First Quarter
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Here’s the temperature outlook as we head into the first part of February, which suggests that warmer than cooler than temperatures will start moving back into parts of the region.
8 to 14 Day Temperature Outlook
As we head into the early part of February, warmer than average temperatures will be found across the eastern part of the nation, while cooler than average temperatures will be found from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest.
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Months of higher-than-normal temperatures in parts of rural Alaska have opened dangerous gaps in frozen rivers that residents use to travel from village to village and to hunting grounds, since there are no roads.
One troublesome ice highway is the half-mile-wide Kuskokwim River, where a man died New Year’s Eve after he and five family members — traveling on a snowmobile and sled — fell into a gaping hole. The others survived. Search-and-rescue teams in the southwest Alaska commercial hub of Bethel have been marking holes on the Kuskokwim, but there were so many, they ran out of the $300-a-roll reflective tape. While they wait for more supplies to be shipped, residents in villages along the river and its tributaries have been marking the openings with tree branches. It’s a role switch of sorts with much of the lower 48, where dangerously cold temperatures have been blamed for dozens of deaths. The unseasonable warmth in parts of Alaska is a factor in making last month the warmest December on record for the entire state, experts say. The statewide average temperature for the month was 19.4 degrees, far higher than the historical average of 3.7 degrees, according to Rick Thoman, climatologist for the National Weather Service’s Alaska region.”
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