MNTonka

Went from all rain to all snow in about 15 minutes.

37 now. Some sleet beginning to mix in at times but it’s still mostly rain.

Up to 38 degrees in the backyard. Light rain at the moment.

NWS is backing off snow totals for my area. Point only has 1-3 tomorrow and 3-5 tomorrow night. “Significant amount of sleet” is mentioned in the afternoon discussion. A 1-2 degree difference could mean a large amount of snow or a snowy/sleety/rainy mess. Looks like it’s going to be a nowcast. Either way, next week is going to be BAD with flooding. Even today, with sunshine and slightly above freezing temps caused some flooding on some of the side roads today. The sewer grates are completely buried. I might try to shovel some channels in my yard to try and direct the water away from my house in preparation for next Wednesday.

That is one intense band! And It looks to be intensifying as it just sits there.

Our already narrow street is seemingly shrinking by the day. I don't know where the plows would put another 4-9". I think Minneapolis/St. Paul will be implementing some parking restrictions here after this next round, if not sooner. It's been quite some time since I remember them doing that.

There are some seriously large ice dams forming around town here...Easily 6-8”+. Some of them have icicles hanging from them that reach the ground. I anticipate there will be quite a bit of damage caused by them in the coming weeks. Here’s a pic from my neighbors. This isn’t even close to the biggest one I saw either.

The MSP all time FEB snowfall record should be broken by now. There's at least 4" already. It's blowing around a lot more than I expected too.

I wasn't very clear. I was referring to the monthly total record for FEB.

Found a breakdown of some MSP snowfall records. https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/natural_resources/climate/twin_cities/snowvar.html 38" is the snowfall depth record. We have our work cutout for us if we want to break that record, but the FEB snowfall record of 26.5" is within striking distance.

Heaviest snowfall rates I’ve seen all season happening right now. Wind is picking up as well.

I’m over in Mendota Heights right now and it’s really coming down hard. I thought it was just about over, but it has really picked up I the last hour or so. Just sitting there on the radar. Without measuring, I’d say about 8” right now.

Perhaps I’m wrong but, I believe the closure on 94 is related to a semi crash that spilled freight all over the freeway.

East side of St. Paul. Beaver lake area.

-30 in the backyard!

In the last 30 minutes the temp has dropped 4 degrees to -10 on my home thermometer. The winds have also picked up and are really starting to gust. I’m going to venture out for a walk in a bit here. I’m a sucker for extreme cold.

Interestingly, today’s record high temp (41) is also the lowest high temp record for the entire year for MSP. I’m at 44 here so I think it’s officially been broken.

That’s crazy. 35 years to the day. I didn’t know the weather service was THAT stingy with the blizzard designation. The wind criteria is a tough one to reach in the core of the metro.

We can officially call this storm a “dome buster”.

I was just watching the local news. The local meteorologist was talking with the NWS to get an answer as to when the last time the entire metro area was included in a blizzard warning. Apparently even the NWS doesn't have a record of this. He said it MAY have been the Halloween blizzard of '91(!) but they aren't positive. The NWS is going through records to try and find out a definitive answer. WOW!

I’m not sure. If I had to guess, i’d say yes. Very intense band moving through right now. Lightning, wind and the heaviest snow I’ve seen yet. Easily 2”/hr I’d estimate.

Aannnd the wind is back. Any idea when the last blizzard Warning was for the metro proper? If my memory serves me, it’s been quite some time.

Thunder snow at the moment in St. Paul. Wind has died down for now. Its almost eerily still. I haven’t seen a storm like this since the storm that collapsed the Metrodome.

Lurker here...I thought I’d chime in to say that you are very close to me. I’m near Beaver lake on the east side of STP. I have ridden my bike around McCarrons many times. How thick is the ice?