:: Lakeville Sees 6" of Snow, More to Come
The Christmas Day through today snow event blanketed us with a half-foot of snow. LakevilleWeather.com measured 6.0" total from the storm, while another local observation put the city on the map at 6.2", according to reports from the National Weather Service. Our snowfall reports were also contributed to the NWS throughout the event, as LakevilleWeather.com participates not only in the Citizen Weather Observation Program (CWOP), but also in the SKYWARN program. We have two trained spotters that take observations (and storm spot in the summer!)
This most recent snow puts the LakevilleWeather.com total snowfall accumulation for this season at 22.25"...which also is the total snowfall for the month of December. This monthly total is already a station record, and with the current trend, we should have a record-breaking season. (Last season's snowfall was 30.75")
More snow is indeed in the near-term forecast, as our current synoptic pattern will remain in place at least into the New Year. This pattern has several waves moving along a rigorous upper level jet stream. The paths of each system trend to have very typical or "textbook" winter storm characteristics. The waves are born from the tumultuous Bering Sea, and will typically pound into British Columbia or the PacNW, and intensify on the lee side of the Rocky Mountains. From here they trend towards the central plains, where they can add in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico...warm, moist low-level advection up the Mississippi River valley is common this time of year. About the time the system has entered the Missouri and Mississippi valleys, frontogenesis is well under way as cold air from the Canadian providences and the northern plains collides with the Gulf air (or sometimes moist Pacific air), with the epicenter of the system a well formed extra-tropical winter cyclone.
This year, the bulk of these systems have taken paths across MO and IA, keeping MN somewhat dry in comparison to the rains and ice storms that have plagued the corn belt and south through the MS delta. But, for the storms that have tracked north enough, we have received more than average snowfall. The next system progged to bring snow to us tomorrow night into Friday has plunged across the Cascades and has dropped into the Great Basin where it continues to deepen and intensify. GFS and NAM models have different outcomes for the wave, with GFS (our more successful model this winter) tracking the wave into So KS before swinging up the Illinois River. This track will keep us out of the major dynamics, but moist return flow already evident in western MN counties will keep our local atmosphere primed for snowfall.
Keep checking forecast updates, as things will change for sure within the next 24-36 hours. Right now, common initial guesses are 1-2" for the next round (remember, this was the same "guess" made for the most recent snow event that ended up dropping 6"). Stay tuned!!