Chris Shaffer

2 months ago | cbsnews.com | Chris Shaffer

When severe weather rolls through, it's easy to get overwhelmed with all the notifications. Here are the four things you need to know about weather alerts and warnings. You'll want to understand the difference between watches and warnings. A watch means severe thunderstorms, tornadoes or flooding is possible. The ingredients are there, but the threat is still to come. They tend to be issued first — up to a few hours in advance.

2 months ago | hometownsource.com | Chris Shaffer

Did anyone pull any April Fools’ Day jokes on you earlier this week? I have pulled my fair share of shenanigans over the years, but the ones I remember most came at the hand of Mother Nature. Let me take you back to 1985. On April 1, I woke to the sound of my mom saying we needed to get outside and shovel or we weren’t going to be able to get our cars out of the driveway. Whatever. It’s April. Nice prank mom. She wasn’t kidding. 14.7 inches of snow fell the night before.

2 months ago | audacy.com | Lindsey Peterson |Chris Shaffer

Warm up the shovels and snow blowers again. Minnesota, this is kind of March in a nutshell, isn't it? You get teased with spring, then brought back to reality with another blast of winter. Snow is on the way Tuesday night into Wednesday and the timing is going to make it a very messy one. WCCO Chief Meteorologist Chris Shaffer says this incoming storm should be very similar to the system that came in March 4 and 5.

Mar 7, 2025 | hometownsource.com | Chris Shaffer

People often ask me what the weather was like at this time last year. Wow did we get fooled last March. For the first three weeks there was no snow on the ground, and our highs warmed as high as 74 degrees. We were thinking spring, and many were asking if it was safe to start planting things. Tap those brakes. That is what I always tell people. The last 10 days of the month were a flashback to winter. Three different storm systems passed dropping 3.1 inches, 8.2 inches, and 3.9 inches of snow.

Mar 4, 2025 | audacy.com | Chris Shaffer |Al Schoch |Lindsey Peterson

False spring number one just came to a halt. Just when you thought it was smooth sailing, winter rears its ugly head again. A winter storm warning goes into effect later Tuesday with the Twin Cities metro expected to be hit by more white stuff than originally predicted. For areas directly south and southeast of the metro, a blizzard warning will go into effect. "That heavy snow will be coming with winds gusting up as high as 45 MPH," explains National Weather Service forecaster Mike Griesinger.