What's The Science Behind This Weird Weather?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's been a month of wacky weather for February. From record breaking temperatures in the 60s, to rain, and possibly snow, in the same week.
There are a lot of factors playing into our wild weather, and not this just this month. Weather extremes are becoming a trend globally, as well as here in Minnesota.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Eric Ahasic and WCCO's Molly Rosenblatt looked over some of the data relating to the February heat wave. Last Friday was only our 5th time on record -- dating back to 1873 -- that we made it into the 60s.
Historically speaking, the extreme warmth is a big deal.
"Obviously, it takes a lot of ingredients to reach a record like that or an anomalously high temperature like that," Ahasic said. "We had those in place, the main one is there's no snow on the ground."
Having that snow on the ground helps keep things colder because it reflects the sun's energy. That's not the only reason for the warmth -- there's also the jet stream, which drives our weather systems and separates the cold air from the poles from the warmer air to the south.
"It was way up north in Canada for this recent warm spell, which means all that cold air was well up near the poles," Ahasic said.
That's not all -- La Niña ceased to exist along with frequent southerly flow bringing in the warmer air. La Niña is when we have lower than normal sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. This gives us average or above average snowfall totals.
We had a weak La Nina in the fall, but it no longer exists.
So with 2016 being the wettest year on record, then an unseasonably warm November, and now, rain and 60s in February, is this all part of an overall trend?
"If you look at Upper Midwest winters over the last decade or two, they certainly have been getting warmer," Ahasic said.
With our warming planet and climate change, unfortunately for Minnesota snow lovers, the long term forecast might not look like the Minnesota we're all used to.
