You wanted snow, and you got it

We finally received a potent storm system that blanketed the Inland Northwest last week. More snowfall is expected this week, so the chances for a white Christmas are about as good as they can get.

Temperatures this week should remain mostly in the 30s, which will be cold enough to at least prevent any significant melting. In fact, several storms that will be moving through the region prior to Christmas Day should provide plenty of new snow in the lower elevations, with much higher amounts in the mountains into the New Year.

Despite the periods of snow expected through the end of the month, there may be several instances with rain mixing in, mainly in the lower elevations. There’s already plenty of snow in the higher elevations as Silver Mountain was reporting around 4 feet on the ground as of the weekend. At Lookout Pass, snowfall totals of approximately 10 feet are reported at the summit.

We’re now seeing a weather pattern that is directing copious amounts of moisture from the Pacific Ocean into the western U.S. Earlier this month, the mountains of California were reporting snowpacks in the Sierra Nevadas of around 10 percent.

Since the big storms have arrived, those figures have risen dramatically — to approximately 80 percent of normal. Last year was one of the driest in history across much of the Golden State, so conditions are certainly looking very different in late 2021.

MIDWEST MAYHEM

In addition to the active weather in the West, conditions last week in the central portions of the country were more typical of spring than the late fall.

Due to a massive collision of cold air from the north and record warm air from the south, a rare major outbreak of December tornadoes was reported from southern Illinois down into the Gulf Coast on Dec. 10 and 11. Over 90 people were killed, but there are estimates that this number may be higher. Officials believe one massive twister moved across four different states.

According to the National Weather Service, the large tornado that ripped through Kentucky on Dec. 10 had a rating of an EF4 and traveled a length of 165.7 miles. Winds were estimated to be as high as 190 mph. An EF5 is the highest with wind speeds of over 200 mph.

There was a second long track from another twister that stretched for 122.7 miles with a maximum strength of an EF3. The longest track for a tornado in recorded history was the Tri-State Tornado in 1925 that went 219 miles.

The worst outbreak in U.S. history was in 2011, known as the super outbreak. From April 25 through 28 of that year, there were approximately 360 confirmed tornadoes across the South, the Midwest and into the Northeast.

Twisters were also reported in southern Canada. April 27 was the worst day with 216 tornadoes being reported, including four that were rated at the highest and most destructive, EF5.

According to data from Wikipedia, despite the huge and rare December outbreak and another one in the beginning of May, the 2021 tornado season will likely finish below normal. As of late Sunday, there were 1,138 confirmed tornadoes this year. The first outbreak of 2021 was from March 16-18 when 48 twisters were reported.

In an average year, there are about 1,250 tornadoes sighted in the U.S., more than any other place in the world. In December, there's an average of about two dozen twisters in the U.S., mainly in the southern sections.

The storm on Dec. 10-11 spawned nearly 60 tornadoes, including two EF4s, and is now the deadliest December outbreak in history and the worst ever for the state of Kentucky. There were over 100 tornadoes reported in the U.S. during the first half of December, including 13 that were spawned from another storm on Dec. 5.

There was also another intense day across parts of the central U.S. last Wednesday, with two dozen reports of tornadoes including several EF-2 twisters in Iowa. There was also a tornado reported in Minnesota, the first time that state has been seen one in December in recorded history.

On that day, there were 43 confirmed twisters, the largest being an EF2. The intense wind storm also resulted in widespread power outages across the central U.S.

Lamar, Colo., reported a 107 mph gust last Wednesday. Kansas and New Mexico have also reported severe hurricane-force winds.

Blowing dust was seen across the central Great Plains that resulted in many road closures, including a 160-mile stretch along I-70. In fact, some of the dust made it all the way to Minnesota.

It’s been a very extreme December weather-wise and Cliff and I expect to see more intense weather extremes in 2022.

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Contact Randy Mann at randy@longrangeweather.com