A Most Unusual Winter Storm Is Impacting Much Of Minnesota

A winter storm is bearing down on much of the state bringing the potential for heavy snow and strong winds, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a variety of watches, warnings and advisories.

But this system is not a typical winter storm, says climatologist Kenny Blumenfeld, who calls it “kind of an oddball in a lot of ways.”

“It’s just not going to pack that sort of cold punch that that you normally get with a major winter storm in this region, especially a major winter storm in this region in the middle of winter,” say Blumenfeld.

The above average temperatures during the first half of January is the major reason why this storm is so unique, according to Blumenfeld.

“We’re running routinely 10 to 15 degrees above normal for the daily average temperature,” says Blumenfeld, who notes that the absence of a strong cold front accompanying this system is quite unusual for this time of the year.

Nevertheless, the storm will make travel difficult if not impossible in parts of the state and snowfalls will generally range from 3-5 inches over a wide area of the southern two-thirds of Minnesota with isolated pockets of 6 inches up to a foot.

Blumenfeld says the average location in Minnesota will experience over 24 hours of intermittent precipitation until the system slowly dies out on Friday.

There are signs that another storm could impact the region in the middle of next week.