By DJ Kayser, filling in for Douglas:
My snowshoes continue to gather dust on a lone shelf in my garage. Is now the time to just put them away for the season and give up hope?
MSP airport has had only 22 days this winter with at least an inch of snow on the ground — the least on record through March 8 (previously, 26 days in the winter of 1930-31). Only seven of those days had at least a 2-inch depth (also the least to date on record). The greatest depth occurred on Feb. 15 and 16 at 7 inches — right after our Valentine's Day snowfall. Uff da — not a great winter for many snowy outdoor activities.
After low 40s today, we'll climb to near 50 Sunday, then into the 60s to begin the week. We've already had two days of 60-plus warmth this month — the most in March is 17 days back in 2012. Our next precipitation chance doesn't move in until the middle of next week, and once again it's looking to be mainly rain. Behind that, a clipper next weekend drags 40s back into the region and potentially a chance of mixed precipitation.
