Star Tribune
Twin Cities unlikely to have a white Christmas in 2023
It’s unlikely that the Twin Cities and southern half of Minnesota will have a white Christmas this year, as a weather pattern that brought a hot and dry summer will likely hang around through the holidays.
Aside from the Red River Valley in northwestern Minnesota, the ground in the rest of the state is largely void of snow and it’s likely to stay that way until the calendar turns to 2024, at least.
“Snow for the holidays, everybody loves that,” said Brent Hewett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Chanhassen. “But this year we likely won’t see it.”
The Twin Cities sees what’s known as a brown Christmas — meaning less than 1 inch of snow on the ground — about 30% of the time, and this will likely be one of those years, Hewett said.
From 1899 through 2022, there have been 36 brown Christmases in the metro with a trace or less of measurable snow depth on Christmas morning when official readings are taken. The last time that happened was just two years ago, but measurable snow has been absent on Dec. 25 seven times since 2000, according to the Minnesota State Climatology Office.
In contrast, the deepest snow cover on record on Dec. 25 was a hefty 20 inches in 1983, the climatology office said.
For those chanting “Let is Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow” in hopes of bringing on a dumping or at least enough of the white stuff to shovel, Hewett, a winter enthusiast, does not see that happening.
The forecast for this week calls for moderate temperatures — from the 30s on Wednesday into the 40s Thursday through the weekend. And a long-range forecast suggests temperatures across Minnesota have an 80% chance of running above average through Dec. 25 with precipitation running below normal, according to the Climate Prediction Center.
With no cold air from Canada in sight and the storm track firmly entrenched across the southern United States, it’s just going to be “40s and clouds,” Hewett said. “We are stuck in that pattern. Nature is not helping.”
About the only place nearly guaranteed to have snow for Christmas is — you guessed it — northern Minnesota. Places such as Babbitt, Big Falls, Cass Lake, Hoyt Lakes, Park Rapids, Remer, Roseau, Tower, Virginia and Walker have had snow 100% of the time on Christmas morning since official observations began, the climatology office said.
This dearth of snowfall so far in the metro — just 1.3 inches this month as of Tuesday — doesn’t mean it’s not coming.
Models hint the current weather pattern will break after the start of the new year and will become more “active,” Hewett said.
“We will still get winter,” he added.
The only debate between DFL U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and GOP challenger Royce White started Sunday on the street outside WCCO Radio.
As White approached the building, he loudly called some two dozen flag-waving and cheering Klobuchar supporters a “whole lot of commies.” The 33-year-old provocateur and podcaster also told them to thank Republican former Vice President Dick Cheney — who endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris — because there was “no chance in hell” that Harris would defeat Republican former President Donald Trump on Nov. 5.
Klobuchar, 64, had arrived moments earlier, smiling and wishing “good morning” to her supporters. Once inside, the two took questions for an hour from moderator Blois Olson. Their tone was generally polite with White often interrupting a Klobuchar response with, “rebuttal,” indicated he wanted to respond.
The senator repeatedly raised White’s claims on X, formerly Twitter, that “The bad guys won in World War II” and that there were “no good guys in that war.” She called that stance offensive to veterans.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar arrives at WCCO Radio for a debate with Royce White in Minneapolis on Sunday, Oct. 27. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii)
Klobuchar, who is seeking a fourth six-year term, portrayed herself as a pragmatist. She opened by saying that we live in “incredibly divisive times politically” but that she has listened and worked with Republicans to bring down shipping costs, drug prices for seniors and to help veterans and push for more housing and child care.
“Courage in this next few years is not going to be standing by yourself yelling at people,” she said, her opening allusion to White’s rhetoric, which she said is often vulgar.
White, a former NBA player, is a political novice, but a close ally of Steve Bannon, the jailed former chief strategist for Trump and right wing media executive. Last summer, White won the state GOP endorsement to run against Klobuchar.
“Our country’s coming undone at the seams. I think we can change that,” White said in his opening statement. He said he threatens the status quo, decried the “permanent political class” and referred to the two major parties as the “uniparty.”
Other buildings destroyed at Khojir and Parchin likely included buildings where Iran used industrial mixers to create the solid fuel needed for its extensive ballistic missile arsenal, Eveleth said.
In a statement issued immediately after the attack Saturday, the Israeli military said it targeted ”missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year.”
Destroying such sites could greatly disrupt Iran’s ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles to replenish its arsenal after the two attacks on Israel. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which oversees the country’s ballistic missile program, has been silent since Saturday’s attack.
Iran’s overall ballistic missile arsenal, which includes shorter-range missiles unable to reach Israel, was estimated to be ”over 3,000” by Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, then-commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command, in testimony to the U.S. Senate in 2022. In the time since, Iran has fired hundreds of the missiles in a series of attacks.
There have been no videos or photos posted to social media of missile parts or damage in civilian neighborhoods following the recent attack — suggesting that the Israeli strikes were far more accurate that Iran’s ballistic missile barrages targeting Israel in April and October. Israel relied on aircraft-fired missiles during its attack.
However, one factory appeared to have been hit in Shamsabad Industrial City, just south of Tehran near Imam Khomeini International Airport, the country’s main gateway to the outside world. Online videos of the damaged building corresponded to an address for a firm known as TIECO, which advertises itself as building advanced machinery used in Iran’s oil and gas industry.
Some take him up on it and fret when he’s not around.
“It is nice to be missed and be part of the school’s culture,” Arzola said. But mostly, he added, he wants kids to know that police aren’t around just for when the bad stuff happens. He’ll hand out his stickers and bracelets, even a trading card bearing his image. Then, they’ll talk about dogs and family.
School resource officer Al Arzola talks to students in his office at John Adams Middle School in Rochester on Oct. 11. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Two months ago, Rochester played host to a three-day training session for new SROs from across the state — an event organized by the Minnesota School Safety Center. On the final day, the 26 officers learned about surveillance challenges at the other school where Arzola works: Dakota Middle School.
It is a beautiful building with a scenic view. There is a lot of glass, too. Arzola, handling the role of instructor and tour guide, took the group outside and noted how one could look straight through the entrance to the large groups that gather inside. There were no curbs in front, either.
“There is nothing stopping any vehicle whatsoever from going through my front doors,” Arzola told the officers. “Law enforcement wasn’t talked to before this building was made. It was kind of like, ‘Here it is. You’re the SRO. Do what you do.’”
He showed them his office, too, which is separate from the main office and near those of other school support staff members. That makes sense, said Jenny Larrive, SRO coordinator for the Minnesota School Safety Center, given than SROs spend more time connecting with youth than on actual law enforcement.
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