Weekly Weather Event -Week of November 8th
November 12, 2021Madison received its first snowfall of the season today, November 12th, with a light dusting of flurries. While today’s marginal snowfall will not stick to the ground, and in fact is melting as this article is being written, more snow is expected this Sunday with accumulations of up to 1 inch. This snowfall is part of a low-pressure system moving through the Upper Midwest, bringing much heavier snowfall further north in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Total snowfall is expected to be between 2 and 6 inches, but wind gusts as high as 60 mph are possible, leading to blizzard and whiteout conditions.
In contrast to the low-pressure system currently spinning over the Upper Midwest, Sunday’s storm is expected to be an Alberta Clipper, a type of low-pressure system that originates in Alberta, Canada near the Rocky Mountains. While clipper systems tend to be fast moving and have relatively low moisture content, meaning they don’t produce large amounts of snow, they usually bring lower temperatures behind the storm fronts.