29. A sunny morning but snow will overspread the region tonight.
My picture (to the right) was of the sunrise this morning from my living room window. The sun continues yet at 9:10 but cirrus clouds are beginning to thicken slightly as the clipper that will bring snow tonight approaches. This morning's low temperature here on the hill was 3.9 at 3:55, lows across the area ranged from -5 to +5. Currently the temperature is 14.4 degrees with a dewpoint of 7. Wind is very light from the northeast and the barometer is rising slightly at 30.14 "Hg.
Here comes the snow.
Light snow is showing up on radar as 2-10 dBZ echoes 95 miles away are sliding to the east, but ground stations report light snow at Little Falls and Saint Cloud, MN, 150 miles from me. The difference in radar versus ground truth suggests there is a dry layer of air that the snow will have to fall through initially. By 21:00 NWS Duluth has forecast that the snow will begin here.
How much snow has fallen here and how much is on the ground?
The chart (to the right) shows my snow numbers as of Tuesday (2/26).
62.045" of snow has fallen. 17.0" currently on the ground.
The bottom line is snow depth and the top line is a running accumulation of snowfall. The x-axis is days starting Nov 1st and the y-axis is inches. Clicking on this image will make it bigger.
Snow pack water content.
On the 26th I took a snow pack core sample and melted it for liquid equivalent. The picture (to the left) is the sample I took, that's 17 inches of snow packed into that tube.
After melting, I measured the water and came up with 3.77 inches of liquid.
A report from Watton, UP MI has 17 inches of snow pack and had 3.7 inches of water equivalent. This compares favorably with my measurement, making my confidence high.
Unfortunately, 3.77 inches is less than I was hoping for. The summer months of last year were extremely below normal and we need a robust Spring snow melt to kick us off to a good start this year.
Here comes the snow.
How much snow has fallen here and how much is on the ground?
Snow pack water content.