Record Cold

Well, I'll do a follow up on Blizzard Alvin in a later post... But, to quickly report; we have now officially hit record low temperatures on two consecutive nights here in Grand Forks, ND.

The Grand Forks NWS office issued a Record Report earlier this morning:

RECORD EVENT REPORT   
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS   
118 AM CST SAT JAN 2 2010  
   
..RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE SET AT GFK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT  
  
AT MARK ANDREWS GRAND FORKS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT A RECORD LOW   
TEMPERATURE OF 33 DEGREES BELOW ZERO WAS SET FOR JAN 1. THIS   
ESTABLISHES A NEW RECORD MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THIS LOCATION FOR   
NEW YEAR'S DAY. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO...SET   
IN 1974.  
  
THE JANUARY 2 RECORD OF 27 DEGREES BELOW ZERO HAS ALSO BEEN BROKEN.   
THIS RECORD WAS ATTAINED IN 1991. SO FAR THE LOW TEMPERATURE   
RECORDED FOR JANUARY 2 WAS 34 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. AN UPDATED RECORD   
EVENT WILL BEEN SENT OUT LATER THIS MORNING ONCE THE MINIMUM HAS   
BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR THE DAY.

Wind Chill Advisories continue through noon today (Saturday) for the possibility of Wind Chills to drop to -25 to -40° F.

2009 Christmas Blizzard...

It's been forever since I wrote anything in here and I have no excuse but pure laziness and forgetfulness! Anyhow, I can try to summarize what's gone on over the past several months, but I'll leave that for a future entry.

For now, I just want to update you all on the major winter storm that's spinning up and approaching the area. We had an initial wave of low pressure that brought the first bout of moderate to heavy snow, Thursday night. This resulted in fairly significant snowfalls around the area. We received just under 4 inches here in Grand Forks. I, personally, measured 3.8 inches out near the garage by early-afternoon.

Here were some other accumulations around the FGF county warning area. These were mostly as of 6-7am on the morning of the 24th.

000
NWUS53 KFGF 241514
LSRFGF

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
914 AM CST THU DEC 24 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0405 AM     SNOW             WEST FARGO              46.87N 96.90W
12/24/2009  M5.5 INCH        CASS               ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

            5.5 INCHES OF SNOW AS OF 405 AM IN WEST FARGO.

0515 AM     SNOW             ROTHSAY                 46.47N 96.29W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        WILKIN             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0540 AM     SNOW             OTTERTAIL               46.43N 95.56W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        OTTER TAIL         MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0600 AM     SNOW             GRAND FORKS             47.92N 97.07W
12/24/2009  M3.4 INCH        GRAND FORKS        ND   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

0640 AM     SNOW             LANKIN                  48.31N 97.92W
12/24/2009  E3.5 INCH        WALSH              ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0645 AM     SNOW             PEMBINA                 48.97N 97.25W
12/24/2009  M2.0 INCH        PEMBINA            ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0648 AM     SNOW             LIDGERWOOD              46.07N 97.15W
12/24/2009  M2.5 INCH        RICHLAND           ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM     SNOW             MAYVILLE                47.50N 97.33W
12/24/2009  M4.4 INCH        TRAILL             ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM     SNOW             SABIN                   46.78N 96.65W
12/24/2009  M4.2 INCH        CLAY               MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM     SNOW             FARGO                   46.88N 96.82W
12/24/2009  M5.3 INCH        CASS               ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0725 AM     SNOW             FORMAN                  46.11N 97.64W
12/24/2009  M2.0 INCH        SARGENT            ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0730 AM     SNOW             STARKWEATHER            48.45N 98.88W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        RAMSEY             ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0748 AM     SNOW             HAVANA                  45.95N 97.62W
12/24/2009  M3.3 INCH        SARGENT            ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0832 AM     HEAVY SNOW       2 NE FARGO              46.90N 96.79W
12/24/2009  M6.0 INCH        CASS               ND   BROADCAST MEDIA

0832 AM     SNOW             DEVILS LAKE             48.11N 98.87W
12/24/2009  M2.0 INCH        RAMSEY             ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0832 AM     SNOW             BRECKENRIDGE            46.26N 96.59W
12/24/2009  M2.6 INCH        WILKIN             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0842 AM     SNOW             HALSTAD                 47.35N 96.82W
12/24/2009  M4.0 INCH        NORMAN             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             7 NW CAVALIER           48.87N 97.73W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        PEMBINA            ND   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             LONG LOST LAKE          47.19N 95.42W
12/24/2009  M3.5 INCH        CLEARWATER         MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             14 NE DETROIT LAKES     46.96N 95.63W
12/24/2009  M3.0 INCH        BECKER             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

            TAMARAC WILDLIFE REFUGE

0857 AM     SNOW             LAKE ITASCA             47.25N 95.21W
12/24/2009  M2.0 INCH        CLEARWATER         MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             3 S DALTON              46.13N 95.92W
12/24/2009  M3.3 INCH        OTTER TAIL         MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             RED LAKE FALLS          47.89N 96.27W
12/24/2009  M2.7 INCH        RED LAKE           MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

0857 AM     SNOW             2 S WADENA              46.41N 95.13W
12/24/2009  M4.5 INCH        WADENA             MN   CO-OP OBSERVER

I'll continue to update amounts as I see them and may provide some reports on conditions as I experience or observe them. I may not be going anywhere over the next couple of days. Friday and Saturday will see moderate to heavy snows and winds nearing 30-40 mph! Definitely, blizzard conditions!

Trained Spotter?

I couldn't resist posting this...

0610 PM     TSTM WND GST     4 WNW FOXHOME           46.30N 96.39W
06/18/2009  E60.00 MPH       WILKIN             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            GUSTNADO OBSERVED IN THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW WELL AHEAD OF
            AN APPROACHING SHELF CLOUD.

I was going back through the LSR's at the Grand Forks National Weather Service from our chase on the 18th and found this piece of gold.

For a "Trained" Spotter, he/she clearly has no idea what they're talking about. Gustnadoes develop within a thunderstorm's outflow, yes, but also at the outflow/inflow interface. This means they develop within the shelf cloud, most often at the very leading edge. NOT well ahead of one!

Makes me wonder who was doing the training!

Chase Season!

Hey folks,

I realize it's been a long, long time since I updated and/or posted anything in here. I apologize for that. I didn't really have much to update you on, really until the past few weeks.

Over that time, I've been out chasing 4 times, the fourth just tonight, to the west - out near Carrington, ND. The first ended up being a trip to primarily Ern South Dakota with Ben Collin on May 31st. We ended up seeing a few nice storms that day... The second chase, several of us from work (Justin S., Dan B., Tyler C., and I) went down to chase far SErn Nebraska and NWrn Missouri on June 7th. It was a Moderate Risk day and with Vortex 2 still out then, it was quite a circus. There were tons of people out that day - and ran into two separate chaser "convergence" parties. ;) The third, turned out to be the best one yet... Collin and I once again went towards the ND/SD border on June 18th, but ended up turning around and chasing a tornadic supercell that tracked over far SErn North Dakota and into parts of W-Central Minnesota. The storm had awesome structure and later, even though it gusted out and became linear, it had one of the best looking shelf clouds I've ever seen.

I'll try to get logs written up for better details over the next week. At least, I hope. I'm running behind and I want to get these posted.

Hang in there, I'll eventually get them on here!

Take care and happy chasing!

Spring is in the air!

Spring has finally arrived in the Northern Plains! ;)

Temperatures on Tuesday reached the 60 degree-mark for the first time since November 3rd, 2008, when we hit 66° F.

The official high at the airport Tuesday hit 64° F and even at this late hour (2:00am) we are still sitting at 45°.

It's been great enjoying the mild temperatures and they should continue through, at least, through the next few days as this ridge slowly slides east across the plains. Slightly cooler temperatures will come this weekend, but a broad ridge will build across the plains again next week which will continue temperatures in the 50's and 60's.

Our next target is to get our dewpoints into the 50's and 60's! Some thunder would be nice, as well.

Rising waters...

As if most of you haven't heard already, the Red River is continuing its rise here in the Valley with record crests expected in Fargo and points near there. Downstream, here in Grand Forks, our forecasted crest has once again been adjusted upward some.

The heavy, wet snowfall we received last evening has slowed the rise of the water over the past 12-24 hours, but as of 11:30 pm we are at 44.81 feet.

The cold temperatures this week may also impede the rise somewhat, as well, however there is still a lot of water down in Fargo that will be making its way up here.

I was down at the river Tuesday afternoon to get a good look at the river and to take a few photos. If you are interested in seeing these, I have posted them in my Photo Gallery. I was down there once again this afternoon and will have additional photos in the Gallery tomorrow night.

The city has a call out for volunteers for sandbagging parts of southern Grand Forks, so I may be doing that tomorrow evening. If you live around the area, we definitely need the help.

Be safe!

NCRFC Forecast

Greetings folks,

In accordance to my status as an employee at Meridian, I do need to be a little careful at what I say and write about on the blog here regarding the flood forecasts. So, first off, I want to apologize for anyone coming here to find any kind of forecast from me. All I will provide from here on out will be only be opinions and/or criticisms. The latter, only if need be, of course! Hah!

Anyhow, I figured I would provide a link to the official forecasts from the North Central River Forecast Center for the East Grand Forks, MN forecast point on the Red River:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=fgf&gage=egfm5&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1&toggles=10,7,8,2,9,15,6

From this first page, you can view the current stage of the river, as well as, historical crests and impacts at various stages of the river, if you scroll down the page.

If you click on the "Chance of Exceeding Levels During Entire Period" tab at the top, it will bring up a graph of the forecast crests the NCRFC is forecasting and the probabilities for each during the period. The 50-60 percentile is basically the threshold for concern, since at this point, we're looking at a fairly respectable chance of seeing a crest at that stage.

As you may see, the 50-60 percentile falls very near a 50 foot crest. Which would make it the 2nd or 3rd highest crest on record. Obviously, this highly depends on weather conditions over the next couple of weeks. If we would happen to get additional precipitation, for instance, significant changes could occur to these numbers.

Again, for interests in the Valley, please keep this link handy - and check up on it, at least every other day or so. Especially, over the course of the next week, as warmer temperatures expected to push in will quickly melt our snow-cover.

This will continue the wet, slushy mess out there on the roads during the day and refreezing issues at night.