Snow Coming!

And I have to go work at the post office tomorrow for the day. I better leave at 1am to get there on time in the morning.

Better you than me buddy!

We're just going to get rain. I can deal with rain...

I'm not liking this shit one bit. It's fun to watch until you have to go out in it and drive.

TexasBlue wrote:I'm not liking this shit one bit. It's fun to watch until you have to go out in it and drive.

Exactly!

We have snow too. Unseasonably early and I think the earliest snow we have had for about 15-20 years. The weather front took an unexpected turn for the worst earlier today and now most of the country has it.

Our snow (and cold) is the norm for this time of the year. Nothing to see here. Move along.

:giggle:

More coming! Yeesh.

	Tonight Partly cloudy. Lows zero to 5 above zero. Northwest winds 5 mph shifting to the east after midnight.
	Friday A slight chance of snow in the morning...then snow in the afternoon. Snow accumulation of 1 to 4 inches. Highs around 20. Southeast winds 5 to 15 mph.
	Friday Night Not as cold. Snow in the evening...then a chance of snow after midnight. Snow accumulation of 3 to 4 inches. Lows around 15. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.
	Saturday Mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of snow in the morning. Highs around 20. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Statement as of 3:17 PM CST on December 02, 2010

... Winter Storm Warning in effect from noon Friday to 6 am CST Saturday...

The National Weather Service in Twin Cities/Chanhassen has issued a Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow... which is in effect from noon Friday to 6 am CST Saturday. The Winter Storm Watch is no longer in effect.

* Timing... significant snow expected to develop Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday morning.

* Main impact... 5 to 8 inches of snow accumulation possible.

* Other impacts... visibility will be greatly reduced in the snow. Travel time may be considerably longer... especially for the Friday evening commute.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

A Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous. Only travel in an
emergency. If you must travel... keep an extra flashlight... food... and water in your vehicle in case of an
emergency.

Gee, I'm going to have fun in this shit going to the post office Saturday morning.

This snow we have has been almost as bad as it was in January for some places. Our road is about 9" deep but the main road through the village isn't too bad.

Last night the coldest temperature recorded was -20C, that's -4f for those of you who only know farenheit. Go on Tex, tell us how you still consider that sunbathing temperature

We're still supposed to get 2" today and 3 more tonight. Yay.

Naw, minus 4 isn't sunbathing here. Even hardcore Minnesotans bitch about those temps. I don't mind mid-20s myself. Any lower than that and it irritates me.

***Winter Storm Tonight and Saturday; Frigid Air By Saturday Night***

Another winter storm will impact southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin beginning tonight and lasting until early Sunday morning. A low pressure system will gain strength as it tracks eastward across the Minnesota and Iowa border late tonight. This storm is expected to produce between 6 and 12 inches of snow across a large part of central and east central Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with 3 to 6 inches by daybreak Saturday. Winds will markedly increase on Saturday, which along with the snow will create poor visibilities and hazardous travel conditions. This will be especially true across southern Minnesota, including Interstate 90.

Storm hits Midwest; plows ordered off Minnesota roads

Associated Press
December 11, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS - Heavy snow and strong winds created blizzard conditions Saturday in parts of South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota as a winter storm barreled through the Upper Midwest.

The storm started Friday in the Rocky Mountains and moved into northern Nebraska and Iowa, southeastern South Dakota and southwestern Minnesota after midnight, the National Weather Service said. It's expected to spread east into Minnesota's Twin Cities and western Wisconsin later Saturday.

Strong north to northwest winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour, have near whiteout conditions on many roads in eastern South Dakota, northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota, the weather service said.

In Minnesota, transportation officials pulled plows off roads in open areas and told drivers to stay home because of worsening weather in the southern part of the state.

"We may even have road closures today. With this type of a storm, it's a blanket approach, because it's a visibility issue," Minnesota Department of Transportation spokeswoman Rebecca Arndt said. "Plows were pulled off the roads early Saturday because of visibility in the southwest and south-central."

Between 8 and 18 inches of snow are expected, with the heaviest snowfall stretching from near Hutchinson and Mankato to the Twin Cities.

Up to 10 inches of snow was expected in northern Iowa, and 5 to 8 inches forecast in eastern South Dakota.

The snow was expected to be followed by dangerously cold temperatures. Nearly all of North Dakota was covered by a wind chill advisory Saturday morning. North winds of up to 15 miles per hour were expected to combine with air temperatures at or below zero to drop wind chill readings to between 20 below zero and 30 below zero, the weather service said.

The wind chill advisory was in effect until noon in North Dakota. Then the arctic air was expected to move east, with lows below zero in the Dakotas and parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday night.

Buried in the blizzard: It fell, and fell -- and kept falling

Bob Von Sternberg
Minneapolis Star Tribune
December 12, 2010

It certainly lived up to the hype -- and is on its way to being historic.

Variously described as Snowmaggedon and Snowmygawd, the biggest snowstorm to hit the Twin Cities since the Halloween storm a generation ago whited out -- and pretty much paralyzed -- the metro area and much of the rest of central and southern Minnesota on Saturday.

As predicted, more than a foot of snow had fallen across a wide swath of the state by Saturday evening, shutting down highways, bedeviling snowplow drivers and shuttering stores and pre-holiday events.

The storm was shaping up to be one of the most historic ever recorded in Minnesota, easily piling up into the Top 10 snowfalls ever measured in the Twin Cities.

By Saturday evening, nearly 17 inches had been dumped on Minneapolis, with snow still falling. Nearly 22 inches fell in Shakopee. Although that accumulation was short of the 28.4 inches of snow recorded in the storied Halloween blizzard of 1991, it was by far the deepest since then.

One casualty was the Vikings-Giants game at the Dome today, which will now be moved to Monday night after concerns about the roof and the Giants having to spend the night in Kansas City.

Snow fell at a furious rate all day, abetted by howling winds out of the northwest that created near-impossible driving conditions in western and west-central Minnesota.

And on the heels of the snow, brutal subzero temperatures roared into the state for at least the next two days.

Across the Twin Cities, residents shoveled, ran snow blowers, got stuck, dug each other out, canceled Christmas shopping (even the Mall of America gave up and closed early) and gazed out exasperated but awestruck at the beautiful, terrible storm.

And everywhere, good Samaritans abounded. Gina Rice, who was driving from her Woodbury home to Hudson, Wis., described a scene where accidents blocked both the east and west exits from Interstate 94 to southbound 494. The cloverleaf exit from the east was blocked by two semis that couldn't make the turns because snow didn't offer enough room for their wide-turning vehicles. "The exit ramp from the west had four people stuck in the drifts, including myself," she said. "Then one good Samaritan single-handedly directed traffic and shoved out his van and three other cars, including mine."

By midday, the blizzard had reduced visibility to less than a city block in Minneapolis.

The severity of the snow prompted the Metro Transit system to shut down its bus routes Saturday afternoon, leaving many travelers stranded. Buses were to start running at 10 a.m. Sunday. Train service wasn't affected.

And for the first time in years, the storm completely shut down Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport about 11:30 a.m. One of the airport's four runaways reopened late Saturday afternoon, allowing flights to resume -- though nearly all airlines serving the Twin Cities had canceled operations.

As the blizzard continued to rage, airport managers were opening the runway for a half-hour, then closing it for 20 minutes so crews could plow, said spokesman Pat Hogan.

The chaotic day was eased somewhat because Saturday is not a typically heavy travel day and because, in anticipation of the storm, airlines had canceled about half of their flights into and out of the airport.

The New York Giants had moved up their departure time by about four hours Saturday in hopes they could get into the Twin Cities early in advance of Sunday's big game at the Metrodome.

With the Twin Cities airport shut down, the Giants' chartered plane was diverted to Kansas City and the team ended up spending Saturday night in Missouri. Then late Saturday, the Vikings switched the game to Monday night.

The storm prompted the state Department of Transportation to shut down Interstate 90 from Albert Lea to South Dakota. Scores of other highways, including I-94 in western Wisconsin, also closed.

The State Patrol reported 129 crashes statewide Saturday, more that three-quarters of them in the metro area. Nearly 600 vehicles spun out or slid off the road.

With no signs that the storm was abating, officials advised that no travel whatsoever be attempted across a wide swath of Minnesota, including the metro area.

Both Minneapolis and St. Paul declared snow emergencies, as did the suburbs of Robbinsdale, Golden Valley, White Bear Lake, Hastings, Hopkins and Red Wing.

Conditions had deteriorated so badly Saturday evening that MnDOT pulled its plows off the roads. "With this type of a storm, it's a blanket approach, because it's a visibility issue," MnDOT spokeswoman Rebecca Arndt said. "Plows were pulled off the roads early Saturday because of visibility in the southwest and south-central."

Hennepin County officials decided to do the same, pulling all but five of its snowplows.

In Vadnais Heights, the new Sports Dome deflated, partly due to a design flaw and partly because of snow that caused an ice buildup, said Mark Bigelbach, dome designer and manager. So after sending a practicing soccer team home, workers deflated the dome. He hopes to have the dome reinflated by Wednesday.

Next comes the cold

Sunday's high in the metro area was forecast around 5 above zero, with windchill values between 21 below and 31 below. A north-northwest wind will blow, with gusts as high as 28 miles per hour.

Sunday night's low will be around 15 below, with windchill values between 23 below and 33 below.

The Salvation Army, for the first time, canceled bell ringing in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Scores of events, including the Holidazzle parade in Minneapolis and high school hockey and basketball games and wrestling and gymnastics meets across the Twin Cities, were canceled. Among them, ironically, was a celebration in St. Paul of the 20th anniversary of Will Steger's International Trans-Antarctica Expedition. The weather was just too foul to hold it.