Friday, March 21, 2014

WNTV Blog: Far From Spring Fever

Friday Snow
A fast moving clipper system dumped quite a bit of heavy snow across northern MN late this week. Here's a picture from my good friend Amanda Graning and her dog Jig out of Duluth, MN. Looks like Jig was enjoying the snow!



Snowy First Full Day of Spring in Duluth
Here's another picture from Duluth thanks to my good friend Bruce Truckey.



Snow Totals
Here are some of the very impressive snow totals that came in on Friday. Note the near 12" that fell around the International Falls, MN region! There were also blizzard reports coming from the Red River Valley area near the ND/MN state line.



Spring Planting Fever?
If you have a green thumb and have never tried planting your own vegetable seeds for you summer garden, you might want to give it a try. I actually did it for the first time last year and not only did I have a great time, but my plants turned out great! You can actually start planting some of your seeds now (depending on plant) to get them in the ground by April or May.

Here's some great information from the University of Maryland Extension, they even have videos for you to watch!

"Starting seeds indoors is about as much fun as a food gardener can have in late winter! The idea is to grow baby plants (a.k.a. transplants or starts) for 2-8 weeks (depending on the vegetable and rate of plant growth) and then plant outdoors where the crops will mature and be harvested. Just about any crop can be started inside and transplanted outside. With a small investment and bit of space you can grow hundreds of healthy transplants. All of the supplies you need can be found at home (reused food containers for starting seeds) or purchased locally from hardware stores, garden centers, and big box stores. Growing your own transplants

*Saves you money- this may take a few years since there are first-year set-up costs

*Increases your garden’s output- get earlier harvests by starting with transplants instead of seeds

*Allows you to grow the crops and cultivars you like best rather when you need them- no need to plant only what’s available in retail stores

*Gives you better control of germination and plant stand- fewer skips, no thinning

*Lessens pest and weather risks- no worries about cool, wet weather keeping you from planting or encouraging seed rotting diseases."




Mountain Goat Gridlock
HA! Thanks to the Wyoming Dept. of Transportation for the image below, which shows a different kind of traffic jam at the Snake River Canyon.



Weather Outlook
The winter storm that dumped up to a foot of snow in northern Minnesota will continue to push east through the weekend. It'll eventually end up in the Northeast by Saturday, but should be mostly gone on Sunday. Cold air will move in behind the front and set the stage for a little wintry precipitation across the Mid-Atlantic region by Sunday. There will also be snow developing along the Front Range of the Rockies over the weekend.



Precipitation Potential
According to NOAA's HPC 5 day precipitation forecast, there is still a decent response to a heavier swath of precipitation running north just east of the East Coast. Some of the longer range weather models are still suggesting a larger storm developing around early/mid week next week just east of New York and Boston. It'll be interesting to see if this potential storm continues to show as much promise as it has been in the past few days... stay tuned!



Developing East Coast Storm?
Longer range models continue to indicate a more sizable storm potentially developing near the East Coast by the early/middle part of next week. It's still way to early to give exact details on how this could impact the East Coast/Northeast or if it will at all, but it's worth keeping an eye on.



Temperature Outlook
As we head into the weekend, temperatures will continue to tumble across the eastern two-thirds of the nation. This much colder than average weather will stick around into next.



Sunday Highs From Normal
Just to give you an idea of how cold this weather will be for this time of the year, here it is! Temperature readings across the eastern two-thirds of the nation will be nearly 10F to 25F colder than average in many spots!



Signs of Warming?!
Alright... this is somewhat promising! According to NOAA's CPC, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook, which takes us into the early part of April, suggests that temperatures may actually sneak up to above average levels for a change. Stay tuned for this developing situation!



Live Stream Across America
Technology has come a long way in recent years and here's a great example of that. 2 storm chasers (Douglas Kiesling and Ben McMillan) started driving from New York, NY on Friday and will drive cross country to Santa Monica Beach, CA while streaming video NONSTOP.

"StormChasingVideo.com LLC, and The Iowa Storm Chasing Network are proud to announce a partnership in a coast-to-coast journey this weekend to test out the latest technology in live mobile newsgathering.

In partnership with Google Corporation’s YouTube.com, Kiesling and McMillan will attempt to make the approximately 2,900 mile drive from Times Square, New York to Santa Monica Beach, California NONSTOP while streaming live video to YouTube LIVE starting at 1pm Eastern Time on Friday, March 21 2014."

You can watch their trip LIVE on YouTube HERE:



Thanks for checking in and have a great weekend ahead! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @TNelsonWNTV