The Borderland area has exceeded daily snowfall records several times in the past week
“Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And since we’ve no place to go, let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!”
The day after Thanksgiving traditionally marks the start to both the holiday shopping season and the Christmas music season. So as families began trimming their trees and shopping for the holidays this weekend, the lyrics to the popular “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” were highly appropriate in Borderland.
The area has exceeded daily snowfall records several times in the past week. And while NWS meteorologist Alex Lamers doesn’t put too much stock into those records because some days have weak records, the monthly accumulations for November are well above average.
Between Monday afternoon and 6 a.m. Tuesday, the NWS reported an additional 4.4 inches of moist, sloppy snow. That snow had mixed with .41 inches of additional precipitation and above-freezing temperatures to create slushy roads and hanging icicles.
Monday’s 3.7 inches of snowfall and .41 inches of precipitation both set records for the day. The previous snowfall record for Nov. 29 was 3.2 inches set in 1983, and the previous precipitation record was .35 inches set in 1919.
The November accumulations are especially telling considering the area set record-high temperatures in the beginning of the month. Most of November’s 27.9 inches of snow came in the last two weeks, after temperatures dropped to seasonal below-freezing lows.
Total snowfall for the winter is already about a foot above normal, Lamers said. However, while monthly totals closed in on the record 29.7 inches Tuesday morning, Lamers didn’t expect enough snow Tuesday to break the November record.
Last year, only 2 inches of snow fell through the entire month of November, and the winter season had only recorded 4.8 inches. The average snowfall for November is around 13 inches of snow.
Record snowfalls also occurred last Wednesday, with 6.5 inches of snow, breaking the 1995 record of 3.8 inches; and on Nov. 22, with 6.6 inches falling, breaking the 1970 record of 5.9 inches. The Falls also saw snowfalls of 1.9 inches on Nov. 14, 3.4 inches on Nov. 21, 2.3 inches on Thanksgiving, and a handful of days with less than 1 inch recorded.
A La Nina weather pattern over the Pacific Ocean has forecasters with the National Weather Service based in Duluth predicting an overall snowy winter in International Falls and across northern Minnesota. Lamers said that the snow in La Nina winters is typically strongest after the start of the new year, so don’t look for the snow to let up this winter. This pattern is partially responsible for the snow the area has already received.
La Nina is a weather pattern that leads to cooler-than-average surface water temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator. This phenomena affects weather across the globe in various ways. While it is forecasted to increase snow in Borderland, the southeastern United States is predicted to see a warmer-than-average winter.
The change in types of snow seen Monday, wet and heavy, from the earlier snow, lighter and more like powder, came from additional moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, Lamers said. The moisture mixed with above-freezing temperatures Monday to leave a slushy mix on top of the preexisting powder.
November temperatures in International Falls were 4.3 degrees above normal, mostly due to a warm start to the month. The average temperature was 29 degrees. The temperature correlation to La Nina in Borderland is inconclusive, Lamers said.
He did not see any significant storms in the immediate future, but was watching a system that could develop over the weekend.
