Sunny Weekend With Warming Temps - Wintry Mess Possible Sunday Night & Monday

MSP saw a record snowfall on Thursday of 6.5", barely beating the previous record of 6.3" from 1909. We also saw record snow in Duluth, Rhinelander, and Marquette, with the snowstorm pushing out of the region.

The overall three-day total from this snowstorm was 13.4", ranking as the 23rd largest snowstorm in Twin Cities history according to the Minnesota State Climatology Department. It's also the second snowiest February storm on record, ranking behind the 13.8" that fell on February 20-21, 2011.

However, once you add in the snow from the clipper that impacted us Monday, we received 15.1" in just a four-day period.

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Through Thursday, 15.2" of snow has fallen this month at MSP Airport - which means before this week, only 0.1" of snow had fallen for the month! In just four days we've gone from one of the least snowiest Februarys on record to a top 15 snowiest. Over a foot of snow has also fallen in Duluth so far this month. Note that the snow total in St. Cloud is only through Wednesday.

Here are the MSP top 20 snowiest Februarys on record. Right now we are tied for the 15th snowiest through Thursday. With some light snow possible Friday Night, we could climb the rankings a little bit more this week.

Meanwhile, we're up to 70.7" at MSP Airport for the entire snow season - 19.5" above the average for the entire snow season! This latest storm pushed Duluth up above its average for the entire snow season of 90.2".

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Forecast loop from 6 PM Friday to 6 AM Saturday

We just can't shake the snow at the moment across the region, as we'll watch a puff of snow move across the state as we head through Friday Night.

Snowfall tallies are expected to be under an inch in most locations across Minnesota and western Wisconsin, but it'll just be a little bit more to remove from your driveways and sidewalks Saturday morning as you try to find a place to put all this recent snow.

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It'll still be a chilly day up in northwestern Minnesota where highs won't make it out of the single digits, but some areas of southern Minnesota could approach 30F for a high. A mix of sun and clouds to mainly sunny skies are expected across the state.

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Another brilliant weekend weather day is ahead on Sunday, with sunny skies and another step upward in temperatures to the mid-30s. Winds will be a bit breezier though, sustained out of the south up to around 15 mph by late in the day ahead of a system that will bring some interesting impacts to the region Sunday Night into Monday.

Forecast loop from 6 PM Sunday to 6 PM Monday.

Here's a look at that Sunday Night-Monday system. An area of low pressure will pass to our south, bringing us another round of precipitation across the state. Precipitation-type will definitely be an issue with this storm, with a potential band of freezing rain setting up somewhere across central Minnesota during the overnight/morning timeframe and rain (potentially heavy) south of that. As temperatures cool later Monday, precipitation should mostly change to snow. There is still a bit of uncertainty in regards to the type of precipitation that'll fall with this system, but there is high confidence we'll see precipitation. Make sure to keep an eye on this one over the next several days, as both the Monday morning and evening commutes will be impacted.

Looking Back At A Volatile February Storm
By Paul Douglas

Any other winter 12-20" of snow would have been a very big deal. But pre-storm chatter of "an historic storm" and even vague comparisons to the '91 Halloween blizzard sent expectations into the stratosphere. People's expectations are at a 10 while our capabilities - the actual science - is a 7. Good and getting better, but not perfect.

So why wasn't it a Top 5 or Top 3 storm? The timing was off - ever so slightly. Arrival of moisture and wind dynamics aloft was close, but not perfectly "phased". The storm played slightly out of tune, unlike what models were saying Monday. You see a 25" snowy bullseye and you can't unsee that. Minnesota Senior Climatologist Dr. Kenny Blumenfeld believes 25,000 to 30,000 square miles of Minnesota picked up a foot or more. That's still a very big deal.

The sun comes out today and 30s return Sunday, with rain and glaze icing Monday, ending as slushy snow. We are entering a very active (stormy) pattern.

71" snow so far. 80-90" MSP totals before spring arrives? It's looking that way.

Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SATURDAY: Partly sunny, breezy. Wake up 3. High 26. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 10-15 mph.

SUNDAY: Plenty of sun, thawing out. Wake up 9. High 34. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SE 7-12 mph.

MONDAY: Rain or glaze ice, ending as slush. Wake up 31. High 34. Chance of precipitation 90%. Wind NE 10-15 mph.

TUESDAY: Sunshine returns, pleasant. Wake up 24. High 38. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 7-12 mph.

THURSDAY: Cooler, flurries taper. Wake up 26. High 29. Chance of precipitation 30%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy, probably quiet. Wake up 10. High 36. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 7-12 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
February 25th

*Length Of Day: 10 hours, 56 minutes, and 50 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 3 minutes and 3 seconds

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This Day in Weather History
February 25th

1934: A late season cold snap produces a bitterly cold low of -46 at Big Falls.

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As we roll into Saturday, we will continue to see an active pattern out west with rain and snow chances due to an area of low pressure in the Southwest and a new system pushing into the Pacific Northwest. A stalled-out boundary in the southern United States will help spark off showers and thunderstorms. A trough of low pressure in the Northeast will bring snow chances and maybe some icing in the Appalachians in the morning hours.

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Bright planets Venus and Jupiter

More from EarthSky: "Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest planets visible from Earth. And – throughout February 2023 – they've been easy to spot in the sunset direction during evening twilight. Indeed, dazzling Venus and bold Jupiter have crept closer together all month, with Venus shining as the brighter world. This week, around the evenings of February 21 and 22, we saw a spectacular scene in the evening twilight, as the young moon – a waxing crescent – joined the show. Now we're looking ahead toward the Venus-Jupiter conjunction – when they'll be closest on our sky's dome – on March 1, 2023. At conjunction, Venus will pass 0.5 degrees (the width of a full moon) from Jupiter. It'll be a stunning sight. By March 1, Venus and Jupiter will fit inside a single binocular field of view. Don't miss them!"

A looming El Niño could give us a preview of life at 1.5C of warming

More from Grist: "The last three years were objectively hot, numbering among the warmest since records began in 1880. But the scorch factor of recent years was actually tempered by a climate pattern that slightly cools the globe, "La Niña." This year and next, La Niña might give way to its hotter counterpart, El Niño. Distinguished by warm surface waters in the tropical Pacific Ocean, the weather pattern has consequences for temperatures, drought, and rainfall around the world. The planet hasn't seen a strong El Niño since 2016 — the hottest year ever recorded — and the next El Niño will occur on top of all the warming that's occurred since then. El Niño's return could further strain sensitive ecosystems, like the Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon rainforest, and nudge the planet closer to worrisome tipping points. It might also push the world past a threshold that scientists have been warning about, giving people a temporary glimpse of what it's like to live on a planet that's 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) than preindustrial times — a level that could begin to unleash some of the more drastic consequences of climate change."

More from Utility Drive: "Lawmakers in at least five states are considering bills to give incumbent utilities a right-of-first-refusal to build transmission lines that grid operators put out to bid, excluding independent transmission companies from the business. The legislation comes ahead of an expected transmission buildout that is viewed as needed to improve grid reliability and provide access to areas rich in wind and solar resources. The bills could determine who builds and profits on parts of that buildout: incumbent utilities or independent transmission companies."

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

- D.J. Kayser