Alas, jo, no Northern Lights for me of late. But spaceweather.com does have some nice pictures from other parts of Minnesota.

Rumor has it that winter is about to make a belated (if short-lived) appearance tonight. Even today temperatures are around 40F/4C, still way above average, but lows tonight should approach the magical 0F/-17C mark (for only the 4th time this season - that's downright embarrassing! ). Locations in northern Minnesota could reach -30F/-34C - a bit brisk but still not terribly unusual for them. Highs tomorrow may 'struggle' (the TV meteorologists' actual expression) to reach 15F/-9C here.

A trace of snow may accompany this Arctic air. We've had only about 12 inches of snow this entire season. Last year it seemed we got that much every time someone turned around.

Alas, the cold is short-lived; highs will approach freezing again by late weekend. We may get a little more snow next week, however.

As always, we're a day behind you. Our snow is coming tonight—probably only a few inches in accumulation, but with a lot of blowing and drifting. Saturday morning's low with the wind chill is to be -25C/-13F, possibly lower. Finally, a winter storm! ♥ Oddly enough, though, and as has been the habit of this strange winter season, the temperature is bounding up to 5C/41 on Monday! Then dropping some again mid-week with flurries.

Those statistics are really something, stargazer, and similar stats are given for our area, although we haven't had as much total snow as you. *nods* Yes, last year was sooo different!

There could be a flash-freeze tonight as the temperatures plummet suddenly. (Stay safe, everyone!)

How did the snow fare last night, 'gazer?

Alas, jo, we got about 8 snowflakes last night. This air is just too dry to hold much moisture.

Enjoy your snow! Your winter sounds much like ours: so dry that even a few inches of snow are newsworthy.

Our temps did live up to their advance billing; it's a balmy 10F/-12C right now, and that's likely our high for the day. Areas north of here won't get above 0F/-17C for their highs today, and windchills of -30F to -40F/C tonight will be common. Finally, a bit of a nip to the air!

Unfortunatly that night was not to be for good viewing my good hobbit. As was my luck the clouds moved in during the study,( good study, so I can say the night was not a total loss).
Temps were on the brisk side today, with an added wind, it made one want to jsut avoid anything having to do with the outdoors. Even the folks at work who enjoy tobacco were less inclined to stay out for long.
will be turning in soon myself. But I think I shall have one last glance outside, as I hear there may be some showing of lights. Not putting my hopes up too high, but who knows?

Today it reached above freezing again. Not complaining to much mind you. I just was hopeful of getting around to making a snowman, ( or snow-wiggle, I have not forgotten my dear hobbit ), this year. But all the snow is melting away, and leaving barely enought o cover the grass in the back yard.
Had some fog this morning, and I expect a bit more in the morning. I was able to enjoy some wonderfully white trees during a break at work. Sort of reminded me of the scene where Lucy first enters Narnia.
I do hope the cold weather doesn't leave altogether too soon. my Scout Troop will be winter camping in a couple weeks, and it's just not the same without some snow.
I was actually toying with the notion of having a fire in the back yard with the scraps I have from the shop. The Miss's gave me that sort of look when I mentioned this too her. But then she had also suggested we cook bratwurst on the grill this last weekend. that does work by the way, but it gets tricky holding a torch while turning them in the dark.

It's finally gotten warmer here, today it was -3C (26.6F) which is such a nice change from the -20/-25C (-4/-13F)that we've been having for the past two weeks. Our car finally started working again, which is nice cause having getting home from dance classes, the long wait for the train and the bus and still having to walk in the freezing weather is just not something that I enjoy doing It snowed again today though, and snowed a lot, we've got more snow than we can handle

Glad your car is working again, wild rose! Walking around in those temps isn't much fun.

Feel free to send some of that snow my way! We're up to a whopping 15 inches/38 cm of snow this season (after a few attempts at real snowfall the past few nights ) - that's 25 inches/63.5 cm shy of our normal snowfall season-to-date.

There are rumors we could get some snow early next week. The biggest single accumulation this season so far was 4.2 inches/11 cm back in early December...rather embarrassing.

And this winter is currently 7th-warmest on record for this area, with about 2 weeks to go (meteorological winter is December through February). Still over 3 months to go in the snow season though! *crosses fingers*

Winter has made a brief, belated appearance despite the stats I quoted in my prevous post from last week.

I visited my brother, several hours north of here, the past few days. Some areas there had up to 6 inches of snow on the ground, and while i was there another 6 inches fell.

A big snowstorm was predicted yesterday for southern Minnesota but went through Iowa instead. But the wind today is persistently strong and cold! Windchills around -20F/-29C. Nothing terribly unusual - except maybe in this very out-of-the-ordinary winter.

This has most certainly been the warmest winter I ever remember. Following up the coldest winter I ever remember last year. As of tonight, we've had our second "spring" thunderstorm plowing across a good deal of Kansas... complete with tornado warnings, hail, high winds, and lots of rain.

Here's the result of last week's storm... (That'd be hail. It was the second whitest my backyard looked this winter...)

It's shaping up to be another year of interesting and potentially extreme weather.

I just was hopeful of getting around to making a snowman, ( or snow-wiggle, I have not forgotten my dear hobbit ), this year.

Yes, I would dearly like to see one of these.

I was able to enjoy some wonderfully white trees during a break at work. Sort of reminded me of the scene where Lucy first enters Narnia.

Mmmm, Narnia Snow. ♥

wild rose, it sounds like you've received a lot more snow than we have this winter! (And yay! for your car being fixed. )

stargazer, the picturesque north sounds so beautiful!

Wow, just look at that hail in fantasia's photo! (Hey, I recognize that backyard. ) Interesting to see the green of the grass, with the brown dirt, and the gentle covering of ... hail.

Our mild temperatures have continued, intermingled with spurts of colder weather. Any snow that comes is pretty much gone in the next day or so. How different than our typical winter, where mounds and drifts pile up so that one can hardly see down the road as they're backing out the driveway. Gracious, in January a rabbit was out in our backyard munching on ... green grass!!!

A storm is blowing over our area today and Thursday, so we had wet snow this morning (boy, was it pretty!), turning to freezing rain right about now, and rain later into tomorrow. And, with a start, I heard the weatherperson say on the radio this morning that Friday's temperature will be a high of 10C/50F! Nooooo, I cry! 'Tis too early!

We haven't had many clear nights, but the few we have had lately, I have so enjoyed seeing the conjunctions of first Venus and the Moon, then Jupiter and the Moon. And last night, through the clouds, I was able to catch a glimpse of them in an almost straight diagonal line. I have yet to spot Mercury though, as the western view from our house is impeded by trees and a few houses. On the next clear night, one of the local schoolyards will provide a more expansive vista, and there I will head.

A familiar backyard indeed! Hope the hail damage was minimal.

Meteorologists have been going crazy over this huge storm - tornadoes and severe storms along its leading cold front, record February rainfalls in southern Minnesota (some areas reported close to 2 inches/5 cm of much-needed moisture today), and impressive snowfall totals to the north (exceeding 12 inches/30 cm).

We got some snow flurries out of it, but it quickly changed over to rain and freezing rain, which took care of the meager snow on the ground. Parts of town were without power last night due to ice, including the high school (interrupting sports contests) and a shopping center. Heavy rain with thunder came overnight - in February! What's that about anyway?

(Those clouds kept me from seeing the Moon near Jupiter the other night).

Tomoorow should offer a brief respite before another chance of snow this weekend...and some models are hinting at temps approaching 50F/10C next week. Time to go camping!

Nore have I my dear hobbit.
We recieved a mesurable amount of snow hear. Roughly six, or seven inches. Good wet stuff too. So, if all goes well, I shall have a snow wiggle yet! Not saying it will be the most dramatic of poses, as snow is an unmanagable medeum at best. But the yung wiggle, and I shall endevore to succeed.
Only to have it melt away in a day or two, for like you stargazer, we expect warmer weather by next week. Such is the fleeting joys of youth.
Had a lighthearted moment after work though, when the young wiggle picked me up. He noted a group of young humans pushing a large snowball. It was already about four feet tall, about shoulder high on them, and they were straining to push it further.
I wish them luck putting the head on.

Today is G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. outside. Sunny, 66F, with a light breeze. It's kind of hard to believe that you northerners have snow.
I took Fiona (my 104lb Newfoundland) for about a mile walk. Course she was probably miserably hot the whole time. I guess it's supposed to get up to 72F today? I may also try to get some peas planted so I can spend more time outdoors, but that'll depend on how far I get on my other housework.

We got some snow flurries out of it, but it quickly changed over to rain and freezing rain ... Tomoorow should offer a brief respite before another chance of snow this weekend...and some models are hinting at temps approaching 50F/10C next week.

That's exactly what hit us too the other day -> flurries, which changed to freezing rain, after which the system brought rain, quite heavy at times. We have a colder weekend, after a strong westerly wind last night and this morning, with flurries (wind warnings were/are out everywhere, with some power outages reported), then rising temperatures towards mid next-week, up near 10C/50F! Still, March can bring some amazing snowstorms. In other words, we're not nearly gardening yet.

Wow, that is one huge snowball , Puddleglum, or rather, snowglobe.

That certainly is quite the contrast to us, fantasia. Enjoy! While here, I am wishing for more snow (considering we've hardly had any this winter ).

Back to the wind: while nothing to the extremely severe and tragic storms that blew through some of the States yesterday, the wind is high (for our area) both last night and today, as it buffets everything within its howling reach. It was even a challenge walking this morning! The gusts are up to 90 kms/hour (56 mi/hr), and along Lakes Ontario and Erie, 100 kms/hour (62 mi/hr). These are supposed to gradually lessen this afternoon, with more seasonal temperatures (-4C/25F) settling in for a couple of days.

Fairly sunny today. though nothing overly warm to speak about. I was able to get into the shop a bit yesterday, opened the curtains to let the sunlight in. Warmed up quite well. Have them open now while typing, and hope to get down there for awhile.
Sadly I must report a failure on making of a Snow-Wiggle. I piled up the snow in hopes of chisling out the figure, but the colder temps have made it all too brittle. If it warms up some tomorrow I might have another go at it. Hate to be a pessimist, as you well know, but it doesn't look promising.
The promise of warmer weather comes for later in the week, with possibilities in the 50's. I wonder if we need to worry about flooding from quick melt off? Best check to see that the canoe hasn't any leaks.