Coldest of the Season

Temperatures and wind chills are at the coldest they've been this season, thus far.

Here are some numbers to mull (and pout!) over...

 Site      Time      Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Cld Ceilg  MSLP 
-------------------------------------------------------------
 KGFK Nov 20 2253UTC  11   6  80   0   N   7 SCT   UNL 1043.8
 KGFK Nov 20 2353UTC   8   4  83  -1   N   6 SCT   UNL 1043.7
 KGFK Nov 21 0037UTC   7   3  83   1   W   3 SCT   UNL       
 KGFK Nov 21 0053UTC   6   3  87   0  NW   3 FEW   UNL 1043.1
 KGFK Nov 21 0153UTC   5   2  87  -4  NW   5 FEW   UNL 1042.2
 KGFK Nov 21 0253UTC   4   1  87  -1   W   3 CLR   UNL 1041.3
 KGFK Nov 21 0335UTC   3  -0  87  -6 WNW   5 FEW   UNL       
 KGFK Nov 21 0353UTC   2  -1  87  -8   W   6 FEW   UNL 1041.0

Late-season Thunderstorms

Apparently, we have some rigorous updrafts out there. We've had some lightning and thunder outside our windows here in Grand Forks, and we even had a 0.75 inch report of hail down in Stutsman County (near Ypsilanti) earlier this afternoon. With freezing heights fairly low that doesn't surprise me.

The abundance of lightning is, however; especially this far north. In my forecast last night, I had thunderstorms as a pType in my grids along the frontal boundary, but scaled things back fairly quickly as the afternoon/evening progressed and the boundary lifted northward. So, that part of the forecast busted!

First snowfall of the season!

I apologize it's way after the fact, but we had our first snowfall of the season this past Monday, October 27th.

A particularly strong cold front pushed southeast across the region the previous Saturday night and this provided the first arctic air to settle into the Northern Plains for several days. A system that pushed through Sunday and into early Monday brought showers overnight and before all was done some of these transitioned into brief, heavy snow bursts. One of them just happened to push through Grand Forks around 9:00 am Monday. It did provide us with a quick accumulation on mostly grassy and elevated surfaces. Officially, the airport reported 0.7 inches, but it looked like it could have been slightly more here in town.

Here's a loop from the UND-RWIC webcam from 9:30 am to 3:15 pm. As you can see, the snow that did accumulate didn't stick around for long! Click on the image for a larger version to open in a separate window or tab.

Vacation...

Hello folks,

I'm cross-posting this from my personal blog...

Just to let you know... Beginning this evening, I will be away on vacation until late Monday. My brother-in-law and I will be traveling along with a few co-workers of mine to the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. We look to do some hiking, camping, and sight-seeing.

Yes, we realize it's going to be in the 30's at night. Call us crazy, but it's something we're all looking forward to...

If, by chance, you need to contact me, I'll have spotty cell coverage, but you can certainly try me there first. As always, the contact information is linked above.

Take care and have a wonderful weekend!

Chilly...!

A cold front passing through the area Friday evening resulting in unseasonably cool temperatures Saturday and last night. In fact, observations out at KGFK indicated that the official low temperature dropped below the 40° mark! This is the coolest temperatures recorded in several months.

 Site      Time      Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs Cld 6hX 6hN
----------------------------------------------------------------
 KGFK Aug 24 1041UTC  41  41 100       W   6     SCT         
 KGFK Aug 24 1053UTC  42  41  96     WSW   3     SCT        
 KGFK Aug 24 1153UTC  41  40  96           0     CLR  46  39