All eyes will be on the Mississippi River over the next few weeks as a heavy rain/snow pattern continues over the Upper Midwest.
Nearly a foot of snow could fall in parts of Minnesota with full-fledged blizzard conditions possible west of Minneapolis. Late-season snow falls are very important to analyze because these can produce massive quantities of precipitation.
Not only have we had 150-200% of normal precipitation over the Upper Midwest since the beginning of the year, late-season snow falls tend to produce even more precipitation than those in January and February. While most, if not all, of the snow will be northwest of our area, it will have to melt in the next few weeks and pass down the Mississippi River.
Not only will we deal with that, but the above-normal amount of precipitation will continue in the next month or so. Temperatures will trend upward and in just two weeks, will average in the 50s. I am sure that we'll start to see some tulips and daffodils pop above the ground in that time frame.
We've just got to keep close eyes on the river. Please be ready for flooding if you live close to it.
-Meteorologist Eric Sorensen
