THE WINTER THAT KEEPS ON GIVING....

This has turned into a pretty decent winter around my part of the central Midwest. After a slow start bitter cold arrived just before Christmas lasting into New Years. We got as low as 24 below in Cedar Rapids during that big freeze. We hit another stretch in February where we had measurable snow on 9 consecutive days...a record for such things.

March has been consistently below normal with a monthly temperature departure that looks like this.

The last 2 weeks have been especially chilly.

Snow has also been a much more of a factor this winter. Most of my area has had 30-45", much of that falling in February and March. That's near to above normal.

And based on what I've seen recently, were not done with cold and snow yet. Here's the temperature departures through April 10th. A very chilly start to the month.

To give you and idea of the cold that's on the table look at the 2:00am temperatures early Sunday. Single digits and teens extend well into northern Iowa. Impressive for the first day of April! By the way the cold is pressing south and we'll all feel it Easter Sunday.

And while its too early to predict amounts and specific days, it does appear that much of the Midwest has not seen the last of the snowflakes. The EURO EPS ensembles (52 members) show this for snowfall over the next 15 days.

The GEFS ensembles have this the next 16 days.

The operational models have this for 10 day totals. Extreme amounts in southern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The EURO:

The GFS:

If you're a betting man or woman, bet on cold and snow to be in the headlines much of the next 10-14 days. Have a wonderful Easter and as always, roll weather...TS