WeatherNation Headlines: Very Warm Start to December

Somewhat Soggy and Foggy Sunday

I had to work the early shift on Sunday, so the drive into work at 4am wasn't the greatest... in fact, it was a bit nerve wracking. I wasn't a big fan of driving on the highway with extremely low visibility. It was almost hypnotic, staring into the abyss, watching the white lines whizz past. I snapped this shot earlier Sunday... the low fog layer opened up enough to get a quick glimpse of the near full moon.

Sunday Sunshine or No Sunshine
Look at how close the clearing line was to the Twin Cities Sunday afternoon... If you were northeast of the yellow through the day Sunday, you more than likely had a pretty gloomy day. Southwest of that line, the sun popped out and temperatures warmed close to 60F... remind me what month it is again.

Sunday Afternoon Temperatures
It's hard to see in the map below, but temperatures across southwest Minnesota on Sunday afternoon warmed into the low 60s. Marshall, MN reported a 61F temp by 2pm, while temperatures in the Twin Cities were only in the 30s.

Classic Warm Front

This is a pretty classic warm front setup... cool, cloudy and foggy north of the warm front and warm/sunny south of the warm front. Unfortunately that setup right over the Twin Cities so folks in the metro didn't see much sun.

December Rain?

As a storm system slides along/north of the international border today, it'll drag Pacific moisture along with it. Doesn't it seem weird to be talking about the potential for rain on the 3rd of December? Even though the graphic below looks pretty wild, Monday isn't expected to be a washout. However, there could be a few isolated t-storms near Chicago, which could beef up rainfall just a little bit.

Monday Rainfall Potential

NOAA's HPC 1 day precipitation across the nation shows this weak disturbance across the Upper Mississippi Valley with light precipitation potential, but it also shows addtional precipitation potential across the West Coast.

5 Day Precipitation Forecast

For those along the West Coast, the constant barrage of heavy Pacific moisture isn't over just yet. The 5 day precipitation forecst brings in another +5" for some... some of which may be in the form of snow across the higher elevations.

Heavy California Rain

Take a look at this shot from the National Weather Service out of Sacramento California... Good grief!

"Grass Valley, Brunswick Basin. The area was formerly known as Olympia Lake. Photo by Daniel Swartzendruber"

California Rainfall Totals

Here are some of the NWS Mesonet observations of precipitation totals over northern California. See more HERE:

Atmospheric River - California Flooding?

This is kind of a timely story from scientificamerican.com, read more HERE:

"DROWNED: A 43-day atmospheric-river storm in 1861 turned California’s Central Valley region into an inland sea, simulated here on a current-day map."

"Geologic evidence shows that truly massive floods, caused by rainfall alone, have occurred in California about every 200 years. The most recent was in 1861, and it bankrupted the state.
Such floods were most likely caused by atmospheric rivers: narrow bands of water vapor about a mile above the ocean that extend for thousands of miles. Much smaller forms of these rivers regularly hit California, as well as the western coasts of other countries."

Vikings Lose at Lambeau

WNTV meteorologist Bryan Karrick made his annual trip to Lambeau field for the "Border Battle" (Vikings vs. Packers) on Sunday. We happened to corrdinate and capture Bryan on the Lambeau tailgate webcam.

Extended Snowfall Potential

The long range "192 hour fantasyland" GFS forecast suggests a better potential of light snow accumulations by some point late week/weekend.

Highs Monday - Very Warm December 3rd

Take a look at the forecast highs across the nation on Monday.... much of the central part of the country will be nearly 15F to 25F warmer than normal and near records in spots!