I have been asked several times in the past
couple of weeks about the progress of Madison,
Wisconsins snowfall since they
broke their seasonal snowfall record several weeks ago.  It is a good time
to bring this subject back up because earlier this week Madisons snowfall jumped over 100 inches for
the first time since snow records have been kept. 

With the current pattern expected to remain
in place both locations are likely to receive more snow in the next two weeks.

There are many myths when it comes to tornadoes
that many people still believe.  Growing up in Minnesota one of the myths I was always
taught was that tornadoes always skip over lakes. 

A
tornado is a rare meteorological occurrence at any particular spot, but when
conditions are right, they can and do form anywhere.

We are now about two-thirds of the way through
March and although we have had a handful of warmer days, most of the month has
been cold.  Currently we are running about five to six degrees below the
long-term average for the month. 

I am certainly not
saying that will happen this year, but it is one of many examples in our
weather records on how this area can switch from too cold to too hot in a
hurry.

Last week we finally had our first 40 degree day
since November 25.  This means we did not get to 40 degrees during
meteorological winter which is defined as December, January and February. 
This past winter was the first winter without a 40 degree or higher temperature
since the winter of 1981-82. 

I would not be
surprised if something similar happens this year, but then again, our average
first 70 is not until April 17, so slow warm-ups are the norm in this
area. 

The cold start to March continues to increase
the frost depth in most areas, although the last couple of days has obviously stopped the process for now. 

With warmer weather coming in the weeks
ahead, the frost will slowly leave the ground from both the top down and the
bottom up.  Usually the frost between two
and three feet is the last to leave the soil. 

I have mentioned before about how this winter
over North America has been fairly typical for
a La Nina.  The cooler waters over the
tropical Pacific Ocean has also caused
somewhat typical La Nina weather in other parts of the world as well, just not
necessarily welcomed in all cases.  

 In Australia, the La
Nina has brought some much needed relief from drought conditions seen in recent
years, but at the same time Sydney
saw their coldest summer in over 50 years do to the persistent cloud cover and
rain.

Back in the year 2000 we had a stretch of
incredibly warm weather during the early part of March.  For five straight days, running from March 3
through the 7 we set a daily record high. 
Four of those five days were in the 60s including a 67 degree reading on
March 5. 

Yes, spring can be fickle in the Red River Valley. 

Wednesday, March 2, 1966 started off with a gentle breeze and many
people started off the day enjoying some fine weather as there was
little snow on the ground and temperatures had been fairly mild the
previous few days. This all came to a rapid halt as what is probably
the worst blizzard of the 20th century in North Dakota was about to hit
the area.

For
four days the storm ravaged the northern plains, Fargo/Moorhead picked
up around 15 inches of snow, but not far to the west in eastern and
especially northeastern North Dakota two to three feet of snow would
fall over the course of four days. The wind gusted to 70 mph (over 100
mph in Nebraska) and created drifts of 30 to 40 feet over the area.
Bismarck reported 42 straight hours, that is almost two straight days
of zero visibility.

One aspect of that winter that made the
storm particularly shocking is that the winter had been cold and dry to
that point. January of 1966 was extremely cold, with 30 out of 31
nights below zero. However, despite the cold, snow was light that
winter. Despite the steady cold, there was only 2-3 inches of snow on
the ground most of the winter. Also, right after the storm, the spring
arrived with warm temperatures and a rapid snow melt that caused
extensive flooding in the Red River Valley north of Grand Forks.

Thirteen
people lost their lives in that storm and livestock losses were
extremely high. It took days, in some instances a couple of weeks to
dig out some parts of the area. No storm since has come close to the
magnitude of what could be described as a super storm. The rest of the
month the weather was quite nice and mild (with the exception of a few
days after the snow was over), so by the end of March the snow was gone
and life returned to normal, but for anyone old enough to remember,
those four days in March will never be forgotten.

Although winter weather frequently lasts well
into April in this area, meteorological winter has come to an end.
Meteorological winter is defined as the three coldest months of the year which
are December, January and February.

The winter finished just slightly above average for precipitation.
During the three winter months, there was 30.9 inches of snow with a water
content of 2.35 inches. That is 3.5 inches above average, although we are still several inches below the long term average for the snow season.

For the third straight year we have had a cold
February. The average temperature for February was 7.4 degrees, which is
more than five degrees below the long term average. This was no where
near the Top 10, but needless it say, it was still climatologically a cold
month.

Average February snow is 6.0 inches with a
water content of 0.59 inches.