Well, being that national news still probably doesn't give a rats ass (no really, even in a May snowstorm that completely smashed all MN records, it won't get more than a few seconds, when if the East coast gets an inch, its all they talk about).
For an update, we didn't personally get any snow in St. Cloud, but Southern MN got 10-16" in this round for the (quite literally) famous winter that won't give up. From St. Cloud down to Rochester, the record May snowfall is about 3". The largest snowfall in MN history in May is 10" way up north. Well, St. Cloud didn't break any records, but my goodness, the state as a whole did.
I mean, for crying out loud, 10-16" in May. The last time we even got an inch in May wasn't even in my life (yea, we can get sprinkles, and an inch is possible, but incredibly rare).
That marks the 4th very large snowstorm in Minnesota since the beginning of April (there is an average of .1 storms per year >5" after April 1st...aka once every 10 years we see an April snowstorm >5"). We had April 11th with about 10", April 18th with about 14", another one after that that some areas got in excess of 6", and now May 1st with southern MN receiving 10-16".
I'm having a REALLY tough time believing this is global warming induced (but I know people will tell me it is). So global warming means MN is going to start receiving gigantic snowstorms in April and May that completely smash all records? I can understand the argument where in the winter, if the average temps are a couple degrees warmer, the air can hold more moisture, therefore snowstorms can actually be larger (so we will see more extreme weather in the winter...it makes sense). It doesn't make sense at all in the context of April/May.
Something really funky is going on with the weather, and I'm not sure I like it, whatever it is. 2 winters ago was one of the snowiest winters in MN history (with the metro area receiving upwards of 100" of snow...St Cloud got about 65", which was like 8th snowiest). Last year proceeded to be an immensely snowless winter, where our totals were about 20" for the year, with much of it (about 8") coming in 1 storm that melted immediately (meaning the ground was not snow covered for a majority of the year). Not to mention, last year, heat records were continuously being broken. This year, we see a very rare 2nd consecutive winter with no lows less than -20F (about -30C) (it was still cold, just no brutal cold), the end of the winter being just consistently cold and it not wanting to give up, and yet again, a ridiculous amount of snow.
3 years in a row of some of the most extreme winters imaginable. As I said (despite my lack of belief towards global warming), the 1st severe winter (2 years ago) makes sense. Tons of very large snowstorms due to warmer air logic. Last winter just an overall warm winter. But this winter now, I don't even know.
As another aside, a thing to mention for this winter, almost all of our snow came in large snowstorms. Generally if we get this much snow in the winter, it is snowing all the time with clipper systems, etc. Not this year.
Money can't buy happiness. Just video games, which make me happy.
