To:  Bob Potter, Jim Bickal, Julie Siple, and Eugene Cha
From:  Mark Seeley
Re:  Suggestions for MPR's Morning Edition, Feb 11, 2000

The following will be posted as WeatherTalk on the MNONLINE
web site (http://www.mnonline.org), also accessible through the
Morning Edition section of Minnesota Public Radio's web site:
(http://news.mpr.org/programs/morninged).
 
Topic:  Hourly observations of weather on the Internet

Currently hourly weather observations are taken and reported 
by over 1500 automated weather stations across the country.
Most are located at airports.  Increasingly, these observations
are available on the Internet and provide current conditions
such as temperature, dewpoint, relative humidity, wind speed,
wind gust, wind direction, atmospheric pressure, visibility,
cloud cover, and an indication of significant weather 
(if it is raining, foggy, etc.).  Some of these sites
are.....

http://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu
(Ohio State University Atmospheric Science Program)

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/current_conditions
(Minnesota DNR current conditions)

http://www.wunderground.com/US/MN/
(University of Michigan-Weather Underground)

Topic:  Overlooked dryness in January

In reporting the heavier snowfalls during January across 
central and southern Minnesota, I neglected to mention the
near record absence of precipitation in some of the western 
counties.  Crookston, in Polk County, reported only 0.05 
inches of precipitation during January, the second lowest
amount in their climate records.  Alexandria in Douglas 
County reported only .08 inches for the month, the 4th
lowest amount in their climate records.

Topic:  Living Snow Fences

Blowing and drifting snow can present sigificant problems
in Minnesota, not the least of which is closing roads. In
the winter of 1996-1997 state and local units of government
spent an estimated $215 million on snowplowing alone.  
Granted that was a severe winter with many blizzards, but
it illustrates the magnitude of cost (tax dollars) to keep 
our roads and highways open.  

The first settlers and farmers in the state planted many 
trees around farmsteads and along railroads to control 
blowing and drifting snow.  During the first half of the 
20th century many trees and shrubs were planted along 
field boundaries to help capture snow and to prevent 
soil erosion by wind.  In recent decades, many of these 
have been lost to drought, disease, or old age and 
replantings have not occurred.  

The Minnesota Department of Transportation in cooperation
with Minnesota's Soil and Water Conservation Districts and
other agencies has embarked on a program to restore and 
develop living snow fences around the state. It is estimated
that there are 4,000 sites encompassing over 1,000 miles 
of roads which would benefit from barrier control of blowing
and drifting snow.  The cost benefit/cost ratios calculated 
using a cost of only $1/ton for snow removal yield ratios as
high as 36:1, and average about 17:1.  This represents a 
potentially significant cost savings for the Minnesota 
taxpayer when living snow fences can be used for catching 
and controling snow along troublesome stretches of highway.
When factoring in the benefits in reducing road closures and
accident potential, as well as providing wildlife habitat, 
the argument becomes even more convincing that the 
restoration and development of more of these living barriers
across the Minnesota landscape would be of great benefit to 
us all.   

Question from a WeatherTalk reader:  How many sunny days per
year occur in the Twin Cities area, and how does this compare
to other midwestern cities such as Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit
and Indianapolis? 

Answer:  There are few historical records of sunny days, but 
there are records of daily cloud cover.  So the best way to 
compare these cities in terms of sunshine might be to examine
the frequency of days which are designated as clear sky 
conditions.  The list below shows the average number of days
per year with clear sky conditions dominant throughout the 
day.

Twin Cities  100 days    Milwaukee  95 day   Chicago  85 days
Indianapolis  90 days    Detroit  77 days    Des Moines 104 days

This is probably affected by sources of industrial pollution 
(emissions) as well as proxity to the Great Lakes.        

Twin Cities Almanac for February 11th:

The average MSP high temperature for this date is 24 degrees F 
(plus or minus 14 degrees standard deviation), while the average 
low is 7 degrees F (plus or minus 15 degrees standard deviation).

MSP Local Records for February 11th:

MSP weather records for this date include: highest daily maximum
temperature of 51 degrees F in 1961; lowest daily maximum temperature
of -15 degrees F in 1899: lowest daily minimum temperature of -31 
degrees F in 1899; highest daily minimum temperature of 35 degrees F
in 1908; record precipitation of 0.28 inches in 1940 and 1965; and 
record snowfall of 4.1 inches in 1979.  There have been twenty-five
measurable snowfalls on this date since 1891. The greatest snow depth
on this date is 20 inches in both 1967 and 1969.  The coldest 
windchill conditions were -59 degrees F in 1917.

Average dew point for February 11th is 9 degrees F, with a 
maximum of 34 degrees F and a minimum of -39 degrees F.  

All-time state records for February 11th:

Scanning the state climatic data base: the all-time high for this 
date is 61 degrees F at Luverne (Rock County) in 1977; the all-time
low is -55 degrees F at Leech Lake Dam (Itasca County) in 1899.

Words of the Week: COMET

This is an acronym for the Cooperative Program for Operational 
Meteorology, Education and Training administered by the University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research.  Sponsors include the National
Weather Service, the Air Force Weather Agency, and the Naval 
Meteorology and Oceanography Command.  The COMET mission statement is..
"to serve as a premier resource to support, enhance, convey, and 
stimulate scientific knowledge about the weather for the benefit of
providers, educators, and users of weather information."  COMET was
established in 1989 and has sponsored the development of special 
forecasting methods and tools.  Some previous COMET projects have
produced better methods of forecasting windstorms, marine weather
for the Great Lakes, lake effect snow storms, and flash floods.
More information about COMET, including some examples of projects
and case studies can be found at their web site.....

http://www.comet.ucar.edu

Outlook:

Chance of snow across the state by late Saturday and into Monday
with some accumulation possible.  Temperatures will trend towards
above normal values during the coming week.  There will be more 
frequent chances for snowfall, especially in northern counties by
Thursday.