Snowstorm coming!!!!

“Gonna be a run on stores! And in Rochester, all the pre-state, high school sports tourneys are gonna run into trouble!

I snowshoed in the woods 3 miles away from where I live Sunday on 6-7 inches of powdery snow. A bunch melted with a couple days of 45-degree temps.

BUT NOW!!!~~~ (and I don't know WHERE this is coming from. I think SW of here. AAH, TV weather guy says it's on the west coast now!)

urgent - winter weather message
national weather service la crosse wi
908 pm cst thu feb 22 2007

...significant winter storm to impact the upper mississippi valley this weekend...

.a strengthening low pressure system will move slowly east through the central plains friday night and saturday. the system
is then expected to move across the mid mississippi valley saturday night and sunday. significant accumulations of snow and ice are possible...along with strong winds...all of which will result in the potential for hazardous traveling conditions through much of the weekend.

mitchell-howard-winneshiek-allamakee-floyd-chickasaw-fayette-clayton-wabasha-dodge-olmsted-winona-mower-fillmore-houston-
taylor-clark-buffalo-trempealeau-jackson-la crosse-monroe-juneau-adams-vernon-crawford-richland-grant-including the cities of...decorah...waukon...charles city...
oelwein...rochester...winona...austin...medford...neillsville...black river falls...la crosse...sparta/tomah...mauston...viroqua...prairie du chien...richland center...platteville
908 pm cst thu feb 22 2007

...winter storm watch remains in effect from friday evening through sunday morning...

a winter storm watch remains in effect from friday evening through sunday morning.

there is the potential of a mixture of snow and sleet developing southwest of a lake city minnesota to wisconsin dells line friday night and continuing into saturday. some freezing rain may also occur... but it is not expected to last very long. any ice accumulations that occur will primarily be from sleet. mainly snow is expected northeast of the lake city to wisconsin dells line.

additional accumulating snow should occur over the entire area saturday night and sunday.

storm total snowfall of 8 to 12 inches is possible... with some areas exceeding a foot. strong winds are expected during the weekend... which along with snow and ice accumulations... will result in the potential for hazardous traveling conditions.

a winter storm watch means there is a potential for significant snow... sleet... or ice accumulations that may impact travel.
continue to monitor the latest forecasts.
last edited: 2/22/07 10:22:33 PM”

“You would love to get more than 7 inches would you Lizs.

The 9,000 people registered to ski in the American Birkebeinder Ski race starting 5 miles from my cabin near Cable Wisconsin need 3 inches of snow to set the classic ski tracks. Wednesday's 52 degrees and sunny condition melted the snow to the ground in spots forcing the race officials to shorten the race from 51 kilometers to 23 kilometers. They are forecast to get 1 inch of snow tonight, and 1 to 3 inches more tomorrow. Three of my backpacking aquaintances are scheduled to be up there and must be praying for heavy snow.

http://www.birkie.com/
last edited: 2/23/07 6:03:25 AM”

“Utterly fantastic, can you imagine it? Snow in Minnesota in wintertime! Wow! Great post, lizs.”

“LOL, don't know if it's global warning or just weather trends, but NO, we don't get that much snow during the winter, NS.

Some Beargrease sled dog race up north had to be canceled, in fact, due to lack of snow. First time that's ever happened.
http://www.beargrease.com/

As for us: SNOWSTORM WARNING now!

It's always interesting to see if these things live up to the weather forecaster's prediction.”

“Mid 60's here today.”

“Today, only rain and a bit of flurries here in the Great Divide Basin.”

“Woot! We get the leftovers from your storm Lizs. 6" on Sunday, mixed with sleet (that could give us a snowday Monday).”

“probable ice storm tomorrow night for use”

“Batten down the hatches!

(don't forget the cookies!)


Wasn't there some guy predicting earthquakes by observing jars of bear grease?”

“If you want to be the official tt weather girl, you'll have to show a little claevage.

Rules, doncha know?”

“Did you say you wanted little cleavage??

PERFECT!

And here's the weather update:

THUNDER SNOW! No, wait... THUNDER FREEZING RAIN!~ .... *drumroll* It begins!

Predictions of from 11" to 21" by Monday morning. Possible blizzard conditions Sunday.”

“ice for us”

“WOW ---”

“COOL -- Lights are off and so far all I'd HEARD was thunder.

BUT I just had a nice bright flash of MEGA LIGHTNING!”

“Correction: THUNDER SNOW!

Just stuck my head outside....”

“...my butt.”

“STILL.... THUNDER SNOW!!

Stuck my hand in the snow by back step. 3"!!”

“UPDATE:

Still looks like maybe 3" of snow overnight. While snow was predicted for today -- and a lot of it -- that's not what's happening. Ohhhh noooooo... BUT the radar shows a big mass of something...

We have FREEZING RAIN coming down! And it looks like a bunch of freezing rain to come. Not good. MAJOR ICE STORM SHAPING UP!!!”

“I like women who get excited so easily.”

“She's just an excitable girl!

(Warren Zevon, requiescat in pace)”

“CRAP!!!

The lights have dimmed twice. I fear power lines may be going down with ice on them!!

Still freezing rain coming down!!!”

“well, thats what you get for being bad!”

“Power was out for around 15 minutes. I called a friend across town and it was out there, too.

Now back on. Possibly because our town has a back-up generator of its own.

Now snow is coming down.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAYS:

This Afternoon: Periods of snow, freezing rain and sleet. High near 30. Windy, with a east wind between 30 and 32 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime ice accumulation of 0.1 to 0.3 of an inch possible. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Tonight: Periods of snow with areas of blowing snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 23. Breezy, with a east wind between 23 and 29 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 7 to 11 inches possible.

Sunday: Periods of snow with areas of blowing snow. High near 30. Breezy, with a east wind between 15 and 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Sunday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 19. North wind between 9 and 14 mph.

Monday: A 40 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 28. North wind between 6 and 9 mph.

Monday Night: A 20 percent chance of light snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 15.”

“Ive never been in an ice storm before. This is cool!!!!!


I skated to my mail box which is down the road 1/5th a mile. It was fun but the ice urts when it pelts your face with teh wind :)”

“Pull yourself together! This is child's play...

You're a BACKPACKER, dammit!”

“Now the storm -- with more ice and less snow than was expected (to date) -- upgraded to a BLIZZARD WARNING. Tons of snow expected tonight!

The National Weather Service in La Crosse has issued a blizzard warning... which is in effect until 6 pm cst sunday. the winter
storm warning has been upgraded.

as the main storm system over kansas moves slowly northeast toward the upper midwest late today and tonight... a renewed surge
of precipitation will move into the area for tonight. this precipitation is expected to be all snow by late this afternoon or
early this evening. this second round of snow will become heavy at times tonight and continue through sunday morning before
tapering off.

to compound this situation...increasing east winds of 20 to 30 mph... gusting to 40 mph... will become common later this afternoon and tonight. these winds... combined with the snow already on the
ground and the snow that falls tonight... will cause significant reductions in visibilities. blizzard conditions and white-outs are expected at times tonight... especially across flatter, open
terrain areas and the ridge-tops.

snowfall amounts tonight into sunday are expected to be 6 to 10 inches... with snow totals from friday night through sunday
reaching at least 8 inches...with isolated totals near 15 inches. lesser snow amounts are likely where freezing rain or sleet persist the longest... but there will be more ice accumulation.

this storm will create crippling effects on travel across the area tonight and sunday.

a blizzard warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. this will lead to whiteout
conditions... making travel extremely dangerous. do not travel. if you must travel... have a winter survival kit with you. if you get stranded... stay with your vehicle.”

“Looks like a great time for a campout. It would have been a wonderful weekend for a backpacking trip.

Opportunities like this one don't come along often. What a chance to demonstrate that you can take it! I've never had the need to use the extra tie-down loops for windy conditions.

Years from now you could brag, "It was in February, 2007, when I was camped out during the Blizzard of the Century!"”

“lights are flickering...might not have power for much longer.”

“Spirit, you still there????”

“yes :P

Dont all act dissapointed now ;)”

“Wow guys! I just had the drive home from He11! We left Granby, CO at 11 am yesterday and all went well up and over Berthoud Pass all the way down I-25 to Raton Pass. Then the tornado warnings went up for the TX Panhandle as we ate a late lunch in Raton, NM. I saw snow falling on the Sangre De Christos and dodged tumble weeds by the hundreds some 4 feet in diameter! We diverted south to Las Vegas, NM then on to Abiline, TX and I-20 to Shreveport, then dropped on down I-49 to home. One rocking ride. I passed Toejams Granbury exit about 4 am this morning. I blew the horn Toejan did ya here it over the wind? That storm chased me for almost 20 hours. I would get into the rain and wind then pop out of the storm into heavy winds then fall back into heavy rain again. It all stopped the moment I crossed the Mississippi and hasn't rained a drop here. I just had to water my citrus trees.

Going to bed soon all is unpacked.

By the way snoeshoes rock!!!!!!!!!!”

“We're in the heavy snow bands. Predicting 15-20"... on top of the ice. Right now 8.5"

Lots of power outages.

and really, really windy. BLIZZARD! Geez, I haven't seen a blizzard in ... forever! Stuck my head out the back door -- and nearly blew away!!!
last edited: 2/24/07 10:21:41 PM”

“Driving from Florida through that storm to Huntersville/ Charlotte ain't gonna be fun.”

“the road is covered in a sheet of ice...I landed on my ass trying to walk to my car lol...I dont think i'll be going hiking after all this morning :( maybe if it melts I can go this afternoon.”

“Up here in Northern Wisconsin we have 3 - 3 1/2 inches of nicely drifted snow. This is the most snow we've seen since that 4 inches we got the day before x-mass eve.

I woke up to the sound of snowmobilers flying past my house!

I love the silent sports, but there's nothing like fresh snow and almost empty trails.

Enjoy your day!”

“tilt what is that thing?”

“You put them on your feet so you don't land on your ass, LOL

(click on the pic)”

“oh, great...like I needed to go and buy more gear!”

“I've got thingees called "Get a Grip," which I really haven't used, but will likely get to use now. I mean, there's snow -- BUT lovely ICE underneath!

I woke up to the klunky sounds on the west wall of my building. Neighbor was blowing snow off the sidewalk between the places. His little kid looked like that little kid in "Christmas Story." LOL! (we'll see when I brave going outside... prolly should snowshoe!!)

Here's the report:

Here you can click on cameras in the Rochester area. 15 CAMERAS TO CHOOSE FROM!Not a whole lot of traffic!

http://www.511mn.org/default.asp?display=cameras&area=SE&textOnly=false

Cameras in Mpls/St Paul and suburbs (isn't this FUN??!?)
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/tmc/trafficinfo/metrocams/mapindex.html

Road conditions in SE MN:
http://www.511mn.org/default.asp?area=SE&display=all&date=&textOnly=true

Ice storm report for SE MN/NE IA/W WI:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/product.php?site=arx&product=LSR&issuedby=ARX

Snowfall report for SE MN/NE IA/W WI:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/scripts/getlocalprod.php?prod=MKETOTSNW

I live in the area between the 11, 11, 13 and 13" reports)”

“
“oh, great...like I needed to go and buy more gear!”

well... It's your ass, ;-)



and Lizs hasn't turned into a popsicle yet!

”

“Jeez, it appears that lizs is still suffering from sunstroke suffered last year.

Guess I'll post a picture of my A/C operationg at full blast!”

“The groundhog needs to die.”

“already ate him”

“There are reports of nearly 30 inches near Winona, MN and La Crosse, WI!!!”

“Maybe I can cook ole Phil The Groundhog like the rat that he is, eh Geo??”

“Where's Marmotstew when you need him?”

“The stinkin rodent lied through his ever-growing teeth.”

“UPDATE:

Maps of the two days of ice and snow:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=feb2407

Map puts me at around 8" Friday to Saturday and another 12 from Saturday to Sunday. (not to be missed: the pre-snow rain Friday, putting ice initially on the ground, and the ice/sleet from 7 a.m to 2 p.m. Saturday putting another 1/4 to 1/2" of ice down before the rest of the snow)

Yes, cleaning up was a blast -- NOT!

Today I snowshoed a little. A dumb girl on the trail with her dogs was postholing up to her knees.”

“AHHH... officially, according to the weather guy, "22.8 inches of snow" (don't know if that included the additional 2-3 inches today... and then there was the ice!)

And another storm is predicted mid-week!!! AAAAAACK~”