Gloomy, Cloudy Weekend - This Winter Is Climbing Up The Snow Ranks

For the first day of the weekend in the metro we'll see mainly cloudy skies with maybe some peeks of sun late in the day. Temperatures will start off in the upper teens with highs in the upper 20s. With winds at 5-10 mph, it'll feel slightly cooler than that if you're taking in some fun in the snow.

The story Saturday statewide will be the majority cloudy conditions, though some peeks of sun can't be ruled out at times. Highs will be in the 20s - which is still up to 10F degrees above average for some.

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We'll continue to see highs in the mid/upper 20s as we head into Sunday. I do believe we'll see cloudy skies pretty much all day in the metro for the second half of the weekend - and we could even start off the morning with a little fog. Cloudy conditions continue into Monday with the potential of a few snow flurries as well.

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We're still watching signs that a cool down will be on the way as we head late into next week and the weekend, with teens for highs returning for late in the month into early February and lows near 0F.

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It has been quite a snowy winter so far across parts of central and southern Minnesota. In the metro, we're already past our entire season average of 51.2" with the 52.5" that has fallen so far. In fact, this snow season would rank as the 46th snowiest already on record - with the rest of January, and all of February, March, and April (let's hope not May!!) to go! The 75.2" in Duluth would be the 59th snowiest year on record if no additional snow fell.

If we just break down the snow to what has fallen this month, 19.3" has fallen at MSP airport (~15" of that fell with the snowstorm at the beginning of the month). That's over a foot above average month-to-date, and 8.3" above average for the entire month (January average is 11"). If we saw no additional snow this month, it would be the 16th snowiest January on record. Meanwhile, look at poor International Falls, which has only seen 0.8" of snow this month - over 9" below average.

It's not only the snow that's making headlines this month, but the rain and the liquid that's packed into that snow! The 2.07" at MSP so far this month would go down as the 7th wettest January on record. You can see some of that heavy precipitation has been focused on southern Minnesota, with the yellows indicating 3"+ of liquid for some.

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Gloomy, Cloudy Weekend - Climbing The Snow Ranks
By D.J. Kayser, filling in for Paul Douglas

I went out and measured the snow pile at the end of my driveway. I can confirm it is one meteorologist high! Uffda! As Paul says, we earn our summers here in Minnesota. At this rate, I think we are all impatiently waiting green lawns.

We now sit at 52.5" of snow for the season – which would already be the 44th snowiest on record if no additional snow fell. If we just look snow season to date, it's the 4th snowiest start on record.

Meanwhile, the 19.3" of snow this month makes it the 16th snowiest January on record. We're also at the 7th wettest January with 2.07" of precipitation (rain & melted snow) so far.

As of Friday morning, there was 11" of snow on the ground to build a snowman or partake in winter activities. However, the MNDNR reports over two feet of snow up in the Arrowhead!

A couple light chances of snow exist next week, otherwise the forecast features at least 50 different shades of gray as I run out of ways to say "cloudy skies". Mainly seasonable highs are expected before we turn cooler by next weekend.

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D.J.'s Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SATURDAY: Late day peeks of sun. Wake up 18. High 28. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SW 5-10 mph.

SUNDAY: AM fog potential. Cloudy. Wake up 15. High 24. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind W 5-10 mph.

MONDAY: Late day/overnight flurry. Wake up 14. High 30. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind SW 5-10 mph.

TUESDAY: More clouds than sun. Wake up 17. High 26. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 5-10 mph.

WEDNESDAY: A few flurries possible. Wake up 12. High 24. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NW 5-10 mph.

THURSDAY: Overcast skies. Turning cooler. Wake up 11. High 21. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 5-10 mph.

FRIDAY: Still cloudy. Average high: 24F. Wake up 10. High 20. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 5-15 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
January 21st

*Length Of Day: 9 hours, 21 minutes, and 46 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 6 seconds

*When do we see 10 Hours of Daylight?: February 6th (10 hours, 1 minutes, 13 seconds)
*When is Sunrise at/before 7:30 AM?: February 3rd (7:30 AM)
*When is Sunset at/after 5:30 PM?: February 8th (5:30 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
January 21st

1936: Warroad drops to a bone-chilling 55 below zero.

1922: The barometer at Collegeville hits 31.11 inches, a record high pressure reading for the state.

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On Saturday, a system moving through the central United States will bring the potential of snow and mixed precipitation from the southern Rockies across the Central Plains. Another low in the Gulf of Mexico will start to spread showers and storms across the Gulf Coast and Southeast Saturday into Saturday Night. A cold front near the Pacific Northwest will produce rain and snow chances.

Heavy snow will fall through the weekend in a stripe from southeastern Colorado to the Great Lakes. The heaviest, in Colorado and western Kansas, could total up over 6". Snow will also be possible in the mountains up in the Northwest. Meanwhile, over 3" of rain could fall the next few days across portions of the Southeast.

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Taking stock of California's three-week deluge

More from Yale Climate Connections: "California's infamous drought-to-deluge-to-drought climate has just swung hard toward the wet end of the spectrum. Three weeks of relentless storms brought San Francisco some of its heaviest rains in more than a century. Floodwaters inundated large areas, tens of thousands of Californians lost power, and countless trees were toppled across the state as gale-force winds blew atop saturated soils. Despite the widespread havoc they produced, the storms were hugely helpful in restoring California's water supply after a punishing three-year drought, one whose hydrological and ecological impacts were made worse by a warming climate."

Shell buys EV-charger operator Volta for pennies on the dollar

More from Canary Media: "Volta, the San Francisco–based EV-charging-station company that raised $275 million from venture capital investors and reached a market valuation of $2 billion after its 2021 public-market debut, announced Wednesday that it will be acquired by oil major Shell at a price of $169 million. It's the latest EV-related company to see once-high-flying hopes of growth, fueled by a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) entry into public equity markets, soured by the harsh realities of a high-cost business with years to go before profitability beckons. Volta has built a network of more than 3,000 public sites that combine EV chargers and video-advertising screens, and it has a pipeline of more charging projects in the works."

Climate change denial is making a 'stark comeback' on social media, study finds

More from The Verge: "Meta made millions last year on advertising that greenwashes fossil fuel companies and spreads disinformation about climate change, according to a new report. And outright climate denialism exploded on Twitter in 2022, according to the analysis published today by a coalition of environmental groups and researchers. They identified fossil fuel-linked entities that spent about $4 million on Facebook and Instagram ads around the time of the United Nations' climate change conference in November. Those ads disparage the transition to clean energy that's necessary to slow climate change, the report says, while portraying oil and gas companies as unlikely environmental champions. Meanwhile on Twitter, the hashtag #climatescam has seen a meteoric rise since July of last year."

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

- D.J. Kayser