Heavy snow collapses Minneapolis Metrodome roof
A raging December blizzard buried Minneapolis, Minnesota under 17 inches of snow over the weekend, triggering the collapse early this morning of the air-inflated roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome, home of the Minnesota Vikings football team. The storm roared out of Canada on Friday morning, bringing heavy snow, sustained winds of 25 – 35 mph, and blizzard conditions through Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The heaviest snows occurred near Osceola, Wisconsin, where 23 inches fell. The storm also dumped 21" at Noisy Basin, Montana, 14" in Williston, ND, and 14" in Negaunee, MI. Officially, 17.1” of snow fell at the Minneapolis airport; 16.3” of it on Saturday. Saturday's snow amounted to 1.75” of melted precipitation, for a snow-to-water equivalent ratio of 9:1. For those of you who've ever shoveled snow know, that's a very wet, heavy snow, and its no wonder the roof of the Metrodome had trouble with such a huge weight of snow.
Figure 1. Amount of precipitation for the 24 hours ending at 1am EST Sunday, in melted snow equivalent. Up to two inches of precipitation fell (brown colors) near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. Image credit: NOAA /NOHRSC.
In the wake of the storm, bitterly cold air from Canada will sweep southwards into the U.S., and high temperatures near 0°F are expected for Minneapolis on Monday. Lows near -30°F are expected in northern Minnesota near International Falls on Monday night. The cold will penetrate into Florida's orange groves Monday night, with lows in the mid-20s expected in Orlando.
Jeff Masters
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Record lows and record low maximums far outnumber the highs.
Every time a ding-a-ling blogs...an angel gets its wings.
I hope he's it.
Monday
Clear
49° F | 23° F
Tuesday
Clear
52° F | 29° F
Wednesday
Clear
65° F | 36° F
Thursday
Clear
72° F | 49° F
Friday
Partly Cloudy
72° F | 50°
That's what I said, isn't it? That the only day in the past seven that highs outnumbered lows was yesterday (23 to 9)?
Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 29. Wind chill values as low as 20. Northwest wind between 11 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Yikes...
LOL ok
hi and hi all i have not for got in about you still dont have the internet at home yet but do have plans on geting it soon all so have a nic new laptop all so if you guys want too see what it looks like stop by my dusted old blog and make a commet on it
My bad. That is what you said. Go figure.
I couldn't find a source for the YTD records either...
Sorry, but no. The snow is much easier to remove when the roof is inflated, due to the slope. Letting it collect at the bottom would put too much strain on the panels.
Actually, for a "cold snap" this is still quite balmy. By this time the last two years we had already had snow in Houston... 1989 was truly cold around Christmas (7 degree min and I can remember not being able to get out owing to ice)... 1983 was the famous Siberian express event around Christmas. It seemed as if half the pipes burst in the city in that event. And in 1982 there was a day that was about 15 and I can remember being an idiot grad student who didn't look at the weather back then and spending 18 hours straight inside came out to... something in the teens without a jacket.
Oh well... get to test out the new setup whereby I can turn off only the cold water on nights like these (those darn drops to the outdoor faucets are the most likely to freeze).
(Sarcasm flag on) Yah, it's getting warmer (sarcarsm flag off... my attempt at statistics is invalid)
That's toasty... down to 7.8 C here in Houston and it is dropping fast.
UCAR Metar Java Applet
or this one.
NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory - Metar Data
And as far as climate for the year goes, the YTD records are the only ones that matter. And even with those, they are still just 1 year, and it is still less than 5% of the planet's surface...
True. A few days of continental record highs or lows do not make a valid argument for a warming or a cooling planet.
SARCASM_START What ya mean you don't like my argument from Houston. I mean like it is balmy here. SARCASM_END
LOL. NE side of Harris County here. Balmy implies a certain amount of humidity.
SARCASM continues...
KHGX Drought Information Statement - December 11th, 2010
brrrr is right!
http://spaceweather.com/images2010/12dec10/triplecme768.gif?PHPSESSID=nc7retta336hfamopfm8gipel3
This SDO image was chosen for LIFE magazine's 2010 Pictures of Year. Do you know how many Earths could fit in that circle of energy?
http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/firstlight/preview/20100330_304sub_069.jpg
how many?
Welcome Taylor (somebody has to say this on the extreme night shift of those of us cheering on the single digits).
Since I'm from Nebraska and did paper routes as a kid... bundle up but -5 is still... manageable.
233. That's cold. 233
(BTW, with units, 233 K. The problem is if you say "-40 F" somebody inevitably tells you "it's the same in celsius" and if you say "-40" somebody inevitably says "what are the units").
233. Cold. Very cold.
Yes, shows that solar activity does not impact things as much as professional deniers would have some think.
The rather balmy (sorry beell... there were a few drops last night in this "dry" front... yah the drought stinks with my extensive gardens) weather we are having was predicted far in advance,
SARCASN_ON and the 12/12 solar episode didn't impact it. SARCASM_OFF
much... statistics...
"There are lies, damn lies, and statistics"--Mark Twain quoting somebody else.
You will have to do some math :)
Check these numbers and then estimate the factors and, well , you know, guess. LOL
695,500km/6,350km= 109 earths
Sun radius divided by earth radius =109 earths
Sun Circumference divided by Earth Circumference=109 earths
4,379,000 km/40,075 km=109 earths
Sun radius=695,500km
Earth radius=6,350km
Sun Circumference=4,379,000km
Earth Circumference=40,075km
Volume is a different answer:
Sun volume divided by Earth volume=1.3 million earths
Sun volume =1,412,200,000,000,000,000 km3
Earth volume=1,083,200,000,000 km3
or from here to work it backwards and figure how you want to view the comparison. Gnight
http://www.suntrek.org/sun-as-a-star/sun-and-earth/comparing-size-sun-and-earth.shtml
Fitting handle :)
out>>>>>>>>>
Agree.
6.9 C.... that is 0.9 C in 1 hours and 20 minutes.
I am predicting no freeze for my zip code for tonight.
Goodnight offseason night shift :)
"It's very early, but there are some long-range predictors in which we're fairly confident. The very warm Atlantic Ocean will likely remain warmer than normal again in 2011. The current warm phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation began in 1995. The last two warm AMO cycles lasted 40-45 years.The current warm AMO has lasted 16 years, so it's safe to say that the general warmth in the Atlantic Ocean will continue in 2011.
In addition, the long-range European model's prediction for mean sea level pressure in the deep tropics is for significantly below normal pressures through the coming spring. This would suggest a weaker than normal Bermuda High center and weaker easterly trade winds. The end result is reduced upwelling of cool water in the MDR. Thus, a warm tropical Atlantic in 2011.
The current strong La Nina will not likely be gone by next summer. All long-range models predict at least a weak La Nina through mid summer. A weak La Nina would mean more favorable conditions for development in the Atlantic Basin in 2011 than in a typical season.
It's too early to determine if the lower than normal pressures in the deep tropics will continue through the 2011 hurricane season. Chances are good that the sea level pressures across the Tropical Atlantic will remain below normal through the 2011 hurricane season, but the pressures will probably be somewhat higher than was experienced during the 2010 hurricane season.
This would signal a stronger Bermuda High in 2011 than in 2010. Weaker than normal, but stronger than it was during the 2010 hurricane season. A stronger Bermuda high (than 2010) might mean less storms that develop off West Africa will be re-curving out to sea east of the Caribbean in 2011. I'd expect an increased risk for a hurricane landfall across the northeast Caribbean in 2011 due to a slightly stronger Bermuda High.
Though it's way too early to speculate about potential U.S. landfalls in 2011, a slightly stronger Bermuda High may increase the risk of a hurricane impact on the Gulf Coast or the East U.S. Coast in 2011. Typically, about 1 in 4 hurricanes that forms in the Atlantic Basin strikes the U.S. We were very lucky this year to have 12 hurricanes form and not a single one hit the U.S. It's unlikely we'll be so lucky in 2011.
14 or 15 named storms in 2011 with 7-8 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes."
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
400 AM CST MON DEC 13 2010
.SHORT TERM (TODAY AND TONIGHT)...MAIN CONCERN FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT
WILL BE COLD TEMPS WELL BELOW NORMAL AND GUSTY NORTHERLY
WINDS...GRADUALLY DECREASING LATER TODAY AND OVERNIGHT. FOR TODAY
HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS SHIFTS SOUTH AND EAST ACROSS
THE MID TO LOWER MS RIVER VALLEY BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
OVERNIGHT...RESULTING IN LOWER WIND SPEEDS AND COLDER TEMPS. DUE TO
THE POSITION OF THE RIDGE AXIS THIS MORNING NORTHERLY WINDS OF 10 TO
15 KNOTS HAVE KEPT TEMPS ABOVE HARD FREEZE CRITERIA. AS A RESULT
HAVE CANCELLED THE HARD FREEZE WARNING FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS
MORNING AS WELL AS THE WIND CHILL ADVISORY FOR THIS MORNING AS WIND
CHILLS WILL BE 15F OR HIGHER.
Blown forecast for this morning.
It's windy here now. I can hear it. Should relax here later today. Warming trend to near 70 by the later part of the week.
Morning low now 32.0.
Ya'll have a great now....
50 degrees....lol. That's almost perfect:)
Have a nice day!
The ground is white from last night
And to add insult to injury a tire on my snowblower went flat.
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