Saturday 12-20-2020

Greetings and welcome!

We had about an inch of wet heavy snow fall early Friday morning. The low 30s Friday did not take it out except on treated roads. Town roads and driveways remain snow covered. It looks like we have a start.

Some people plowed and shoveled paved surfaces, some didn’t. I didn’t and I have a hunch that I will regret that.

The next snow looks light. My best guess is a 1-3 or 2-4 snow for Monday.

The storm for the 23rd is still on track. This storm is a very strong one, but it does not seem to have a lot of moisture support. It does have a lot of cold air and wind showing in the models. Right now I’d guess it at 2-4 or 3-6.

Two things about this storm don’t add up. The first is the lack of moisture support out of the Gulf of Mexico. It just isn’t there. It does eventually get there and the east coast might get some significant snow.

Item two is the massive cold air that is coming behind the storm. The 850 level maps show upper air temps of -18 to -24C but here at the surface we are only expecting upper single digit low temperatures.

It is a very strong storm with tightly packed isobars, so I would expect a good bit of wind with the storm.

Farther out in the models I am seeing a storm for Tuesday 12-29 that could be a good snow maker. What I am seeing right now is about a 4-6″ snow out of that one.

As far as ice thickness we are getting there. Someone the other night said about 4″ and as much as 6 in a few sheltered spots.  I would be very careful venturing out onto the lakes, but you can walk out a little. On a related note a man went through the ice about 40 miles east of here and didn’t make it. Please be careful.

Gas prices went up this week. I was paying around $2 for regular 87. Now it is $2.14. I filled up at $2.10 and a 40 dollar fill was missing a gallon. Now that they have the winter gas formulation in the tanks it might be a good time for a No E premium gas can run. Between needing it to get the snowmobiles going and always wanting some on hand for the generator I think that is a good idea.

The last items on the list tonight is the winter solstice and the Christmas star. Tomorrow we will have the shortest day of the year and the lowest sun angle.

Something very unusual this year is a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on the solstice. They were spread apart and getting closer nightly. On the 21st they will look like a single star, and be augmented by a start from a distant constellation. The two planets are not really coming together or even aligning in the grand scheme of things, it just looks like it from our perspective. Here is a link that will tell you all about it.

That is it for tonight. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB