There's a saying that gets muttered often this time of year: "Winter is coming." And that is certainly true. The (sad) facts: We're already past our earliest first measurable snowfall on record (0.4 inches on Sept. 24, 1985) and our earliest first inch (1.7 inches on Sept. 26, 1942).
During the past 30 years, our average first measurable snowfall is Nov. 6, and the first inch comes Nov. 22. Last winter we had 29.5 inches of snow — the previous winter was the third-snowiest on record, with 90.3 inches.
NOAA released its official winter forecast on Thursday, leading to groans or cheers depending on your feeling of the season. The three-month outlook for November to January shows equal chances of both above- or below-average temperatures and precipitation. However, the outlook for December to February has odds for below-average temperatures in western Minnesota and above-average precipitation across much of the state.
No winter anytime soon for the metro. An extended string of October 70s is expected through Monday before cooling back to the 50s and 60s.
