Blizzard POUNDING the Midwest!
A powerful Alberta clipper storm system as continued to intensify from early yesterday through today, while dumping up to two feet of snow over parts of Minnesota into Wisconsin. One of the hardest hit areas yesterday was Minneapolis, where 17.1 inches of snow fell, postponing the Vikings game until Monday and shutting down every major road in the area. The explosive snowfall rates with this system have been accompanied by 50-60 mph winds, producing drifts several feet high as well as power outages, trapped motorists, and deadly wind chills. Today, the heaviest snow will fall in northeastern Wisconsin around the Green Bay area, will wrap-around/deformation zone snow enhanced by a cold fetch over Lake Michigan will result in up to two feet of snow and 2+ inch/hour snowfall rates. As you can see at the 500 mb analysis at right, this storm system is extremely intense for an Alberta Clipper, and the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes set up a recipe for disaster in the favored lake effect snow belts of Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron. Blizzard warnings
remain in effect for eastern Iowa
northeast to extreme northern Lower Michigan, where visibility will be near zero for most of the day with ridiculous blowing/drifting of snow. TVN will be documenting lake effect late this afternoon across northwest Indiana into extreme southwest Lower Michigan, where some of the most intense snowfall rates of this entire winter storm are anticipated, with cold northerly winds blowing across the entire length of the lake. Stay tuned for pictures/video from this chase, assuming we aren't trapped on the road and forced to spend the night in a snow cave! I'll also be tweeting throughout the snow chase on
http://www.twitter.com/tornadovideos.
http://www.tornadovideos.net/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1317-blizzard-pounding-the-midwest
