SUBJECT: Snowy and cold? So, tell me something I don't know, Mr. Big Shot
Ph.D. Meteorologist!
Saint Cloud January 1997 weather summary
The snowy trend for 1996-97 continued in January for Saint Cloud.
A total of 19.3 inches of snow fell in January 1997, more than 10 inches
over the 30-year normals. January 1997 ranked as the 8th snowiest January
on record, following closely on the heels of January 1996, which was the
5th snowiest January on record (21.9 inches). In fact, three of the past
4 Januaries have ended up in the top 10 for snowfall.
The seasonal snowfall is now up to 47.8 inches, more than 22 inches
above normal for the season and already above the normal snowfall for the
whole season (44.8 inches). In fact, the October-January snowfall total
this year ranks as the third highest on record (see table below).
With high snowfall, the melted precipitation of 1.72 inches also
was well above normal, by almost an inch. Note that January 1997's snow
was wetter than usual, since the melted precipitation ranks as the 8th
highest January total in 106 years of record, but the January 1996 snowfall,
which was more than 2 1/2 inches greater, did not make the top ten melted
precipitation totals, indicating that January 1997 had snow when temperatures
were warmer, so the snowfall contained more water. This is another factor
in the potential spring flood threat for central Minnesota if we don't
continue to get mild periods, like the last few days, to take the snowpack
down somewhat, and then a slow thaw in the spring.
January 1997 was also a cold month in Saint Cloud, but not as cold
as the complaints I have heard. The average temperature was 6.6 degrees,
about a degree and a half below normal. Most of the chill was accounted for
by the average high of 15.9 degrees, more than 2.5 degrees below normal.
The lows were almost average, indicating that most of the cold waves were
accompanied by strong winds, which created dangerous wind chills, but allowed
the temperatures to stay away from the -30's experienced last year.
Many people I have talked to are concerned that we are on the way
to a record snowfall year because we still have March, the month with the
highest average snowfall in the period 1961-1990, left in the snow season.
I have done some checking and have a few comforting facts:
1. March has the highest average snowfall for the 30-year normals,
the basis for the National Weather Service normals. However, a lot of that
is the result of the extraordinary March 1965, which had 3 major blizzards
and a total of 51.7 inches of snow, the highest monthly snow total on record.
(see detailed description of March 1965 and the St. Patrick's Day blizzard
below). But, the total record averages for the 97 year history of St. Cloud
snowfall (listed below) show that January is the snowiest month of the year.
So, it appears that the 30-year snowfall averages showing March being the
snowiest month of the year are highly biased by the extraordinary month of
March 1965.
2. Since 1965, March has only been the snowiest month of the
season TWICE, in 1986 and in 1995. November (8 times), December (5 times),
January (12 times), and February (3 times) have all been the snowiest month
of the season more often than March in the 30 years. (There was one year
when December and January tied for the snowiest month.)
3. In doing the October-January snowfall totals, I noticed that
the years with the highest snowfall totals through the end of Jnauary do
not always show up as the years with the highest total season snowfall.
In particular, 1964-65, the snowiest year in St. Cloud history, actually
had below normal snowfall through the end of January. So, I computed the
snowfall for the rest of the season for the other 9 years in the top 10
snowfall totals through the end of January (top 9 because 1996-97 is now
in the top 10, ranked third). Only four of the other 9 years in the top
10 through January ended up in the top 10 snowiest seasons by the end of
the snow season. In fact, the average snowfall for the 9 years for the rest
of the snow season was 19.5 inches, a bit less than the average Feb-May
snowfall for all years.
So, a snowy first two-thirds of the year does not guarantee that
the rate of snowfall will continue the rest of the season!
SUMMARY FOR JANAURY 1997 JAN 1997 NORMAL
TEMPERATURE
Average high temperature ( F) 15.9 18.5
Average low temperature ( F) -2.8 -2.4
Average temperature ( F) 6.6 8.1
Warmest high for this month ( F) 40 on the 2nd
Coolest high for this month ( F) -7 on the 11th
Mildest low for this month ( F) 27 on the 3rd
Coldest low for this month ( F) -23 on the 26th
Record temperatures ( F): none
MELTED PRECIPITATION (in)
January 1.72* 0.74
Greatest in 24 hours .75 on the 4th
*9th highest on record (see table below)
SNOWFALL (in)
January 19.3** 9.0
Greatest in 24 hours 8.5 on the 4th
Season (1996-1997) 47.8+ 25.0
**8th highest on record (see table below)
+3rd highest Oct-Jan total on record (see table below)
ST. CLOUD SNOWFALL--JANUARY ( 95 YEARS; AVG = 9.1 IN; SDEV = 6.4 IN)
SNOWIEST DRIEST
29.9 IN 1974-1975 0.1 IN 1989-1990
26.1 IN 1966-1967 0.3 IN 1941-1942
24.2 IN 1915-1916 0.4 IN 1973-1974
22.9 IN 1968-1969 0.8 IN 1943-1944
21.9 IN 1995-1996 1.4 IN 1923-1924
19.9 IN 1993-1994 1.6 IN 1930-1931
19.7 IN 1919-1920 1.9 IN 1963-1964
19.3 IN 1996-1997 <-- 8TH HIGHEST 2.0 IN 1902-1903
18.7 IN 1916-1917 2.0 IN 1958-1959
18.1 IN 1981-1982 2.2 IN 1947-1948
ST. CLOUD PRECIP--JANUARY (106 YEARS; AVG = 0.76 IN; SDEV = 0.57 IN)
WETTEST DRIEST
2.75 IN 1897 0.00 IN 1898
2.52 IN 1969 0.02 IN 1942
2.39 IN 1975 0.06 IN 1990
2.16 IN 1916 0.07 IN 1931
2.12 IN 1950 0.07 IN 1961
1.99 IN 1967 0.09 IN 1974
1.88 IN 1922 0.14 IN 1924
1.85 IN 1917 0.15 IN 1948
1.72 IN 1997 <--- 9TH HIGHEST 0.18 IN 1964
1.61 IN 1920 0.19 IN 1978
HIGHEST SNOWFALL (IN) SEPT-JAN
(NORMAL: 25.0 IN)
RANK SNOWFALL SEASON SNOWFALL FINAL SEASON SEASON
SEPT-JAN (FEB-MAY) SNOW (SEP-MAY) RANK
1 54.2 1936-37 30.3 74.5 2
2 54.0 1968-69 12.9 66.9 6
3 47.8 1996-97 <-- 3RD HIGHEST TOTAL IN YRS OF RECORD ?
4 46.7 1983-84 17.1 63.8 *
5 45.3 1927-28 24.3 69.6 5
6 43.4 1995-96 15.5 58.9 *
7 42.7 1993-94 22.2 64.9 10
8 41.1 1966-67 16.0 57.1 *
9 40.7 1992-93 19.0 59.7 *
10 40.4 1985-86 18.2 58.6 *
19.0 1964-65+ 68.9 87.9 1
* INDICATES THE ENTIRE SEASON SNOWFALL DID NOT MAKE THE TOP TEN SNOWIEST YEARS
+ SNOWIEST SEASON ON RECORD (1964-65) ONLY HAD 19.0 INCHES OF SNOW THROUGH THE
END OF JANUARY, BUT HAD 68.9 INCHES THE REST OF THE YEAR, INCLUDING 51.7
INCHES IN MARCH 1965 (SEE DETAILS BELOW)
AVG SNOWFALL (FEB-MAY) WITH TOP 9 SNOWFALL TOTALS THROUGH JAN: 19.5 IN
AVG SNOWFALL (FEB-MAY) OF ALL YEARS: 19.7 IN
AVERAGE SNOWFALL BY MONTHS
OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY
30-YEAR AVG (1961-1990) 0.5 7.5 8.0 9.0 7.4 9.5 2.7 0.1
ENTIRE ST CLOUD HISTORY (97 YRS) 0.6 6.2 7.4 9.1 7.2 8.2 2.6 0.2
March, 1965 The total snowfall for the month of March, 1965,
was 51.7 inches, which by far was the greatest
snowfall since records began in 1895. The snowfall
for March of 1965 was almost double the amount of
the previous record which was 28.1 inches in 1951.
There were three big snow storms in March, 1965, one
occurring at the beginning of the month dropping
21.7 inches and the other occurring on St. Patrick's
Day when 17.1 inches of snow fell. The third storm
occurred ten days after the St. Patrick's Day Storm
on the 27th and 28th, dumping 9.2 inches of snow.
The storms only allowed a week or so to dig out
and really not enough time to remove all the snow
before the next storm hit and as a result the high
snowplow banks were very quickly filled in. This
halted all traffic, closed schools, businesses and
industrial plants. By the end of the month there were
35 inches of snow on the ground. It was also the
coldest March on record with an average monthly
temperature of 15.7 degrees F. which was 10 degrees
below normal. Record lows for the dates were set
on the 19th, 20th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, and 25th.
March 17, 1965 The St. Patrick's Day Storm, began with light
snow at 7 pm on the 16th of March. By midnight
2.5 inches of snow was recorded. The snow became
heavy at 6:20 am and accumulated at the rate of
1 inch per hour until 1 pm. This was the heaviest
period of snowfall, but it continued to snow and
by midnight 13 inches of snow had fallen on the
17th plus the 2.5 inches on the 16th, and it
continued to snow, with an additional 1.6 inches on
the 18th when it ended around 6 pm. The total
snowfall for the storm was 17.1 inches. The
wind was the biggest factor contributing to the
severity of the storm. By 5 am on the 17th the wind
was out of the east at 17 gusting to 24 MPH, then
shortly after noon the wind changed to the north
at 18 gusting to 24 MPH, and by 5 pm it was north
at 27 gusting to 46 MPH and remained northwest
at 20-35 MPH throuhout the 18th. Temperatures
were in the 20s in the early morning of the 17th
but dropped to 10 at midnight and 1 above on
the morning of the 18th.
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Bob Weisman, Associate Professor PHONE: (320) 255-3247 (work)
Earth Sciences Department (320) 253-8820 (home)
MS 48 FAX: (320) 255-4262
Saint Cloud State University EMAIL: scsweisman@tigger.stcloud.
720 4th Avenue South msus.edu
Saint Cloud, Minnesota 56301-4498
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