Weathermania!

Lucky me getting to drive to Superior on Friday.

Snowblower filled with fresh gas and is ready to go! Take care of your errands today, the roads and highways will become a mess…6-8 inches on top of freezing rain.

This morning’s update from GPL’s official covert meteorologist.

My forecast is still on track. We’ll see a quick change over to snow here shortly, resulting in some small accumulations 2ish inches today. We’ll have a lull in accumulating snow around supper, there still might be flakes flying but it wont be intense. Then the bulk of the snow will fall during the overnight, particularly midnight – 8am Friday morning. Tomorrow morning’s commute will be most impacted. Overall, still about 6 inches for the metro by Friday afternoon. Mankato and southern MN will likely see closer to 7-8 inches, generally. That’s including what falls today. If we don’t have a couple fresh inches by nightfall (we should), those totals will be less. Winds will blow overnight and tomorrow.

Totally ignore the 12 inches you are hearing. No.

There may be pockets of 10 inches in southern MN, but I’m not convinced. This low had better seriously strengthen and tap into some magical moisture source for that to happen.

This morning’s update from GPL’s official covert meteorologist.

My forecast is still on track. We’ll see a quick change over to snow here shortly, resulting in some small accumulations 2ish inches today. We’ll have a lull in accumulating snow around supper, there still might be flakes flying but it wont be intense. Then the bulk of the snow will fall during the overnight, particularly midnight – 8am Friday morning. Tomorrow morning’s commute will be most impacted. Overall, still about 6 inches for the metro by Friday afternoon. Mankato and southern MN will likely see closer to 7-8 inches, generally. That’s including what falls today. If we don’t have a couple fresh inches by nightfall (we should), those totals will be less. Winds will blow overnight and tomorrow.

Totally ignore the 12 inches you are hearing. No.

There may be pockets of 10 inches in southern MN, but I’m not convinced. This low had better seriously strengthen and tap into some magical moisture source for that to happen.

I really appreciate these forecasts. There’s a guy on Twitter I follow (@NovakWeather) that gives good weather insights and forecasts too.

I agree. Have her start posting here and maybe some admin can give her the “GPL Meteorologist” title.

NWS map saying 8-9 inches total for most of the Twin Cities now.

I agree. Have her start posting here and maybe some admin can give her the “GPL Meteorologist” title.

Not sure she would nor would we want that. She has made some bad life choices such as a red school to the east. :mrgreen:

Both YE and I have told her we repost her forecasts here and she’s developing a cult following.

Just went out for food and fuel over lunch and the roads in Eagan are starting to get slick already. Saw a few cars go sideways sliding up to intersections.

Lucky me getting to drive to Superior on Friday.

Hockey tournament? I don’t think it will be that bad by 1pm going up 35.

Yes

Just went out for food and fuel over lunch and the roads in Eagan are starting to get slick already. Saw a few cars go sideways sliding up to intersections.

Little slippery this morning, to be honest. Plows hadn’t really gone out yet at 8am.

It’s getting slick tonight. There’s a fairly steep hill just outside my subdivision and I couldn’t stop coming down it before turning in. I ended up about a foot into a pile of snow pushed up at the corner.

Big part of Highway 1 at Bug Sur falls apart

https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/animations/w_307/210130161105-desktop-big-sur-drone.mp4

Big part of Highway 1 at Bug Sur falls apart

https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/animations/w_307/210130161105-desktop-big-sur-drone.mp4

We drove that Highway in May 2019. Gorgeous scenery.

Apparently that big snowstorm that was in the forecast a few days ago is going to miss us.

Forecast for this weekend:

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RrBg2sG8C0&ab_channel=BillyRay[/media]

We need our accurate and reliable GPL weather forecast for the morning commute, GE. :wink:

Sorry…didn’t think of asking her and have not seen anything so she must not be too concerned.

We need our accurate and reliable GPL weather forecast for the morning commute, GE. :wink:

Sorry…didn’t think of asking her and have not seen anything so she must not be too concerned.

I would like to propose that we refer to her as WE or WeatherEagle

WE the stinking badger you mean?

I thought we’re giving WE a partial-pass on that due to how well she explains things for us?

Sigh. Explain to me again why I’m signing your paycheck every two weeks? :lol: :hug:

I hope she doesn’t lose her position on GPL due to no fault of her own. :lol: :mrgreen:

Nope – we will just fire the mod who hired her

It’s going to be below freezing in all 50 states

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjRysCq-tDuAhUDCM0KHTpCBc0QFjACegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wlfi.com%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F573719282.html&usg=AOvVaw2fN7NFPO4cdjNTpegYKQrK

We need our accurate and reliable GPL weather forecast for the morning commute, GE. :wink:

Sorry…didn’t think of asking her and have not seen anything so she must not be too concerned.

I would like to propose that we refer to her as WE or WeatherEagle

WE the stinking badger you mean?

I thought we’re giving WE a partial-pass on that due to how well she explains things for us?

I don’t know–a simple “stinking badger” is pretty mild when talking about the plague to the east… :ahhh: :mrgreen:

I finished shoveling today. Got undressed from my coat, hat, etc. and had just enough time to walk to the window to see the plow come by. F

He drove by so fast he covered the sidewalk in ice chunks that he knocked off the snow back from previous snowfalls.

You got me today snowplow driver! :nutz:

Our plow does this every… single… time…

Drives through the neighborhood at 30 mph throwing snow and whatever else past the sidewalk and into our yard covering 1/3rd of our driveway.

What I appreciate is they usually come through twice, so that’s nice from a street perspective, but it means we’re cleaning that snow wash twice as they seem to cut 2 inches of the pile off each pass.

Just saw this on Twitter:

“ @NWSTwinCities just told me we may threaten 160-hour record, dating back to 1982, for continuous hours with below zero windchill. 1958 had a 154 hour stretch. This could be a certifiable doozie.”

I’m guessing you guys don’t subscribe to “The Farmer” magazine. State climatologist Mark Seeley has a fascinating article about February 1936 being the coldest in MN history.

https://www.farmprogress.com/farm-life/85-years-ago-minnesotas-coldest-february

I’m surprised that International Falls aka “The Icebox of the Nation” doesn’t hold any of the daily records, for each month, in the State. Also surprised that Pine City holds three.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_weather_records#By_month

I don’t know their technical name, but the fence of wires that now line every inch of the freeway was getting a workout this morning. I saw 5 vehicles tangled up in it on my drive in. A couple were sitting on top of the fence. That has to total every vehicle that touches it. A lot of damage for a dusting of snow and low temps.

That would be my assumption. And, yes, it tends to total the car that impacts it, but does so without injuring the occupants, and keeps the car from going into oncoming traffic as well.

Any median barrier like this is likely to do major damage to the car that hits it, but the cable barriers are also relatively easy to replace after they’re hit, which is why they’re becoming the standard.

This recent cold snap has just been ridiculous.

That vehicles parked outside start is a testament to M.E. I don’t even bother to plug in the engine heater on my ’15 PU. Then again a friend in Cambridge has diesel that won’t fire up plugged in 24 / 7 and a battery charger connected to both batteries.

Cable barriers are one of the best things to happen to MN roads in a long time. A totaled car getting stopped by a barrier is an easy trade compared to the horrific injuries a vehicle crossing into oncoming traffic can cause.

This recent cold snap has just been ridiculous.

That vehicles parked outside start is a testament to M.E. I don’t even bother to plug in the engine heater on my ’15 PU. Then again a friend in Cambridge has diesel that won’t fire up plugged in 24 / 7 and a battery charger connected to both batteries.

Two auto related things that continue to amaze me. 1) how reliable they have become related to cold weather starts and 2) how well tires hold up given the extreme conditions – weather and road. Other than a punctured tire (nail) I have not had a lot of issues in recent history and it seems to take a wicked bad pothole to shred one.

Totally agree. I had to replace a battery in our Murano last week before the cold snap but I think got almost 6 winters out of it

On my old VW I did hit a pretty bad pothole one day that I saw too late. When the tire went flat I took it in to get replaced and there was a crack all the way through the entire wheel as well. I’d never seen anything like that

This recent cold snap has just been ridiculous.

That vehicles parked outside start is a testament to M.E. I don’t even bother to plug in the engine heater on my ’15 PU. Then again a friend in Cambridge has diesel that won’t fire up plugged in 24 / 7 and a battery charger connected to both batteries.

As I understand it (I don’t drive diesel vehicles), the low sulfur diesel fuel gels up in a bad way during these cold snaps. An engine block heater won’t help the gelled up fuel in the tank.

This recent cold snap has just been ridiculous.

That vehicles parked outside start is a testament to M.E. I don’t even bother to plug in the engine heater on my ’15 PU. Then again a friend in Cambridge has diesel that won’t fire up plugged in 24 / 7 and a battery charger connected to both batteries.

As I understand it (I don’t drive diesel vehicles), the low sulfur diesel fuel gels up in a bad way during these cold snaps. An engine block heater won’t help the gelled up fuel in the tank.

So far….knock on wood…the three Silverado diesels in my work’s fleet of trucks have had no issues. Two of the three are parked outside at night with only block heaters, and all three are outside every day all day. They all mainly use fuel from Kwik Trip. Again…so far.

Up until this year I had a real problem with my tires losing a bead and slowly losing air in the cold months. Got new tires 6 months ago and it hasn’t been a problem since.

I’m having this problem now. One of my tires has been losing about 10-15 PSI per day since December. I have to fill it up almost every day. It’s gotten even worse since this cold snap. I filled it to 35 PSI when I got home from work on Friday evening. Didn’t drive it all weekend. When I went out for work this morning it was down to 15 PSI.

I took it in to Discount Tire about 3 weeks ago and told them what’s been going on. They tested it and couldn’t find any leaks. It obviously IS leaking, because I’m pumping it back up almost every day. My tires are less than 3 years old and still have about half the tread left on them. I don’t want to replace them yet, but I don’t know what other options I have at this point. :x

I had this problem several years ago and it turned out my aluminum rims had some corrosion. The corrosion made for an uneven surface in one spot where the tire met the rim. It was at this spot the tire was leaking. I don’t remember where I had it repaired- it may have been Discount Tire- but they used a grinder to smooth the surface of the rim. From then on I had no leaks.

Another thing to check, but I assume Discount Tire would have checked, is the valve stem. Can you feel air escaping? Do you have a cap on the valve stem?

The last thing to try is to spray soapy water at the tire, like checking for gas leaks. Maybe the air leaking form the tire will show in bubbles? This may help if you’re leaking air at the bead as well.

So far….knock on wood…the three Silverado diesels in my work’s fleet of trucks have had no issues. Two of the three are parked outside at night with only block heaters, and all three are outside every day all day. They all mainly use fuel from Kwik Trip. Again…so far.

Do you have the V8 or V6 diesel? I am probably going to buy a GM truck this spring/summer and just curious how the diesel handles in the cold and how it works overall.

I am leaning toward a 5.3L gas but always good to have some first hand feedback.

All three trucks have the 6.6L Duramax, I should note that they are all 2500HD trucks. They all have handled the cold very well with no fuel issues and only one DEF issue. The DEF issue was the DEF tank heater crapped out and had to be replaced, $350 for the replacement installed. I guess DEF will freeze once it hits 10 degrees and the DEF heater only works while the truck is running. From what I’ve been told that the heater will melt the frozen DEF pretty quickly once you start the truck.

I will say that the one thing I have been impressed with is the fuel mileage. They each average right around 16-18 city and 20-22 highway. Mileage doesn’t dip too terrible even with a decent load on a trailer behind the truck. I have got 19mpg with a 22′ trailer with a skid steer on the trailer going down the highway. We have a 2011 Ram 2500 with a 6.7L Cummins that has power for days so I was concerned switching to a Duramax but it has equal amounts of power for towing. I will say that the Cummins is snappier in acceleration but that is the only difference I have noticed.

Compared to our older Chevy and Ford diesels we have had in the past these Duramax’s have performed very well in the Minnesota cold. I would recommend one to anyone wanting a reliable, powerful, and fairly economic powertrain. The only pain is when you fill up the 32 gallon tank with diesel fuel and it costs about $100.

I sold my ’99 Superduty w/ a 7.3 Turbo Power Stroke early winter / late fall. It had sat for a couple years. I but a slow charger on it, pumped up the front tires. 2 weeks later it fired right up but had a crazy fuel leak from the fuel filter on the firewall. Also front tires were way down and had a audible leak when I but a compressor on them.

Aluminum expands & contracts quite a bit and bead leaks are very common. In my experiance both the wheel & the tire need to be worked on. Also a good amount of “bead dope” applied and a serious amount of air, both in PSI & CF applied. There should be a serious POP when the bead seats. The 2 bikes I ride the most are both tubeless cast wheels. My local tire guy & I get along so I pull the wheels and order tires from Dennis Kirk in Rush City. A motorcycle rear that gets 20K miles is exceptional so I see him once a year.

I loved the torque my diesels ( I have had 3) had. The sport I was in then meant pulling horses so I used the diesels. With the cost of fuel being from .15 to .25 higher than gas I couldn’t justify an “oil burner” & I’m not a fan of the ride you get with a 3/4 or 1 ton.

This is totally a first world problem but my car is old enough to have the low pressure indicator on the dash but NOT new enough where it identifies the pressure of each tire. It was always a drag to have to measure all 4 tires to find the culprit.

It’s always the last one you check. Always! Regardless of which tire you start with.

Plus at least one of the caps will roll under the car during this process. :lol:

Cable barriers are one of the best things to happen to MN roads in a long time. A totaled car getting stopped by a barrier is an easy trade compared to the horrific injuries a vehicle crossing into oncoming traffic can cause.

I had an incident on a motorcycle a couple years ago that really made me think about these things. I was overtaking a vehicle in the passing lane. The vehicle I was overtaking decided to enter my lane with no turn signal and without checking its blindspot. I was forced to the shoulder where the cable barrier was. Thankfully, there was no crash. I have to say, in a similar situation, I would welcome a ditch or center median as opposed to the cables. Hitting one of those on a bike would be catastrophic. At least in the ditch, one would have a chance.