Will Faribault Have a White Christmas?

The weather the Faribault area has been experiencing lately is certainly not typical for this season in Minnesota, and that has many wondering if we will have a white Christmas this year. Temperatures last week were in the 40s at times, and this week brought rain, which is not the the precipitation that we in the upper Midwest expect to be seeing in December. With the holidays just a week away, I reached out to Weather Eye Meteorologist Laura Lockwood.

Laura is always helpful in breaking down weather patterns and explaining the latest forecast to our listeners. In discussing this season's warmer than average temperatures, I mentioned that I had heard it was an El Nino year and wondering how that would affect us. Laura said that, "Winter in Minnesota is a combination of factors that lead to what we usually have, but one thing that does influence it, is the ocean – and it is very evident this year. With the El Nino as strong as it is, we are feeling the effects: Warmer than normal temperature trend, and the precipitation will be near normal overall for us. El Nino can affect different areas of the U.S. differently, so that is just how we can feel its effects."

So with higher temperatures expected throughout the season, the rain we've had and the fresh dusting of snow, will we be shoveling on Christmas morning? Laura said "I don’t think so – with how things are lining up for the area I think we may have some snow between now and then but the temperatures will be too warm during the afternoons for it to stick around but I’m still hoping we can have some snow on Christmas at least."
At this point it doesn't seem likely that we'll have any major change in the forecast, but keep your radio tuned to KDHL and Power 96 for the latest weather coverage and weather-related announcements.