A cool Minnesota fishing opener ahead
Cooler weather? Chance of rain? You'd think Minnesota's fishing opener was coming up. Saturday's opener will be cooler, with temperatures in the low 50s and a 20 percent chance of rain. The National Weather Service expects temperatures will stay below normal with unsettled weather through the next week. An upper-level disturbance tonight and Saturday will spread the chance for rain showers or even a bit of snow late tonight and early Saturday. A dry Mothers Day is expected, with the threat for rain showers returning early to mid-next week. The best chance for precipitation will occur tonight through Saturday, and most areas should receive some precipitation, forecasters said. an active jet stream will bring several weather systems through the Northern Plains into next week.
Dale Stensgaard, a Herald copy and wire editor, compiles this daily weather tidbit.
Posted by: dailydale on 5/09/2008 at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
April at GF National Weather Service was cooler
April at the National Weather Service in Grand Forks was slightly cooler than normal. The average temperature, 40 degrees, was 2 degrees below the normal of 42. Total precipitation, 0.62 of an inch, was 0.61 of an inch below the normal of 1.23 inches. Total snowfall, 4.4 inches, was 3.2 degrees above the normal 1.2 inches. The 3.6 inches of snow that fell April 11 broke the previous record of 2.6 inches set in 1934. The highest temperature was 69 degrees April 15, and the lowest 19 on April 13. The month had 742 heating degree days, 58 more than the normal of 684. There have been 9,354 heating degree days since July 1, 425 above the normal of 8,929. Heating degree days are calculated as the number of degrees a location's mean temperature is below 65 on a given day. For example, if a site has a mean temperature of 55, there were 10 heating degree days that day because 65 minus 55 equals 10.
Dale Stensgaard, a Herald copy and wire editor, compiles this daily weather tidbit.
Posted by: dailydale on 5/08/2008 at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
April at GF airport was cooler than normal
April at Grand Forks International Airport was slightly cooler than normal, the National Weather Service said. The average temperature, 40 degrees, was 2 degrees below the normal of 42. Total precipitation, 0.53 of an inch, was 0.70 below the normal of 1.23. But total snowfall, 5.1 inches, was 2.5 inches above the normal 2.6. The 4.2 inches of snow April 11 broke the record of 1.8 inches set in 1995. The highest temperature was 70 degrees April 15, and the lowest 19 on April 28. The fastest sustained wind was 35 mph, and the highest gust was 45 mph, both April 26. The month had 744 heating degree days, 55 above the normal of 689 and 29 over April 2007's total of 715. There have been 9.504 heating degree days since July 1, 397 more than the normal of 9,107 and 775 more than in this period in 2007. Heating degree days are calculated as how many degrees a site's mean temperature for the day is below 65 degrees.
Dale Stensgaard, a Herald copy and wire editor, compiles this daily weather tidbit.
Posted by: dailydale on 5/07/2008 at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Minnesota lake country got heavy snow in April
April's early spring snowstorms dropped record or near-record heavy snow across much of the Red River Valley and Minnesota lakes country, the National Weather Service said. Itasca State Park, Minn.'s 43.5 inches of snow in April set a record. So did Detroit Lakes, Minn.'s 32 inches and Wadena, Minn.'s 26 inches. Fargo logged 16.9 inches of snow in April, its second-highest total on record. Kelliher, Minn., recorded 16 inches, its fifth-highest April snow total on record. Other heavy snow totals in Minnesota for April included an unofficial 50 inches 10 miles north of Park Rapids, 49 inches eight miles south-southwest of Zerkel, 48 inches in Bemidji, 43 inches three miles south of Blackduck and 20.5 inches in Breckenridge. These latter reporting points don't have enough years to determine record values or have many missing years in their data, meteorologists said.
Dale Stensgaard, a Herald copy and wire editor, compiles this daily weather tidbit.
Posted by: dailydale on 5/06/2008 at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Despite 19 earthquakes, Minnesota has low risk
Despite 19 earthquakes reported since 1860, Minnesotas earthquake risk is about as low as it gets in the nation, Val Chandler of the Minnesota Geological Survey told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1994. He said the states location at midcontinent, away from zones where Earths tectonic plates collide, makes quakes rare. The magnitude 4.3 quake centered near Staples in 1917 and the magnitude 4.6 to 4.8 quake centered near Morris in 1975 both caused objects to fall, cracked masonry and damaged chimneys, the Geological Survey reported. The Staples quake also broke many windows. The Dumont quake in 1993 was accompanied by a loud, explosive noise that alarmed many people, but no injuries or serious damage occurred. Most of Minnesotas quakes have occurred along a line from southwest to northeast through Ortonville, Morris, Alexandria, Staples and Nisswa, geologists said.
Dale Stensgaard, a Herald copy and wire editor, compiles this daily weather tidbit.
Posted by: dailydale on 5/05/2008 at 12:30 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
