April Madness! (snow tonight/stretch of 60's starting Sunday)

This is April madness! Just when we thought we were done with Winter weather, we get slapped again with another storm.  The rain/snow line went right across the metro.  No snow fell across the south metro while areas north of Minneapolis/St. Paul proper received several inches of snow.  Even a band of 10-14" fell in areas from the Elk River area across to Stacy, into western WI.  I measured 4.2" at my house in Crystal.

My neighbors probably think I'm completely nuts!  Memories are made by doing crazy, fun things though.  Most people take a quick pic of their deck from the comfort of their warm home.  I choose to mix green food coloring with water, put in a spray bottle, bundle up, write on my yard, get a ladder out and take pics.


The difference across the metro was dramatic.  Check out this...

While it was snow heavily in Maple Grove, it was just a wet commute for those in the south metro!

This weekend will see moderating temperatures and we should see temps in the 60's starting Sun-Mon and continuing through the next week.  It looks like we could see a rather large storm system impacting the area on Friday into Saturday of next week.  This won't have snow with it, that's the good news.  We could have some heavy rain and thunderstorms, but that's too far out at this point, just something I'm keeping my eye on.

Twin Cities Forecast
Thursday:  Mostly cloudy, high of 40.
Friday: Partly cloudy, high 45.
Saturday: Scattered showers, mostly cloudy. High 58.
Sunday: Mostly sunny.  High 64.
Monday: Sunny. High 70.
Tuesday: Sunny. High 65.
Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. High 69.

Minneapolis Climate Averages for Thursday
Average high: 59
Average low: 38
Sunrise: 6:25
Sunset: 8:01

Thanks for reading!
Have a great day!

Storm Update!

Quick summary... -evening communte will be ok (snowing, but roads ok) -Friday morning commute will be tough with snow-covered roads -Total accumulations in Twin Cities metro 3-6" -nice weekend with temps in 40's Sat, maybe 50 Sunday -Next week looks nice with some 60 degree days mid/late week (maybe even our first 70!) So, hand in there...this is just a quick hitter and the snow will melt fast! Weather models have certainly not come together to give forecasters any degree of confidence for any forecast. This is why you have probably been frustrated to see forecasts ranging from 3" to 12" of snow. It's not Meteorologists playing "mind games" with you, it is the fact that we rely on weather models and when those models show differing solutions, you get different forecasts because of the uncertainty. Here is how I think things will shake out with the storm... -precip cranks up around noon (I expect mainly rain or rain/snow/sleet mix) -rain turns to snow this evening (I think evening commute is ok considering mild temps) -snow tonight and tomorrow (morning commute bad, snow-covered roads) -best estimate is 3-6" for the Twin Cities metro There still is the possibility of a heavy snow band that could bring higher snowfall totals to the metro. Just think...next week we will see 50's and 60's!!!! Have a great day!