An Alberta clipper dusted parts of southern Minnesota on Tuesday with up to 6 inches of snow, adding a little white to what had been barren, brown ground. Yet no snow fell in the Northland.

Nearly 20 inches fell in Chicago and Detroit last week. More than 30 inches fell in Boston in the past 10 days.

It seems so far this winter everyone is getting snow except us.

That may change this weekend, starting Friday, when three fast-moving Alberta clippers are expected to drop anywhere from 3-6 inches across much of the Northland through Sunday night. Saturday morning looks to be the snowiest, the National Weather Service in Duluth reports.

That it may take three storms to hit 3 inches exemplifies the kind of wimpy-snow winter we’re having. It would be the heaviest snow since November but still very much welcome news to skiers, snowmobilers and people who fear their septic systems may freeze without some snowy insulation.

So far this snow season (everything since July 1), Duluth officially has had just 31.7 inches of snowfall at the airport, where the National Weather Service takes official readings. That’s nearly 2 feet below the normal 55 inches we should have seen by now.

What’s even more stark is how little snow there has been on the ground.

The Weather Service is reporting 7 inches officially at the airport, but grass has been poking through the snow all winter in downtown Duluth. Last year at this point, Duluth had 19 inches on the ground, on the way to a massive 34 inches on the ground by early April.

Some meteorologists have speculated that the jet stream is to blame for the dearth of snow. The Northland is locked in between a polar jet stream to the north and a subtropical jet to the south. Storms go north and south along those jets but miss us in between. Also, December, often among the snowiest months, was far warmer than normal, and considerable precipitation fell as rain instead of snow.

‘Snow dance, PLEASE!’

How desperate is the snow drought? The last time Duluth saw much more than 2 inches of snowfall in one day was Nov. 11, when 3.3 inches fell, part of a three-day, 9.2-inch snowfall that was by far the season’s biggest storm to date.

If the trend continues, Duluth could be on pace for a top-10 least snowy winter since records have been kept at the airport. The least snowy is 36.5 inches in 1980-81, and anything less than 50 inches would make the airport top 10. (The least snowy winter ever was 25.8 inches in 1918-19, when records were kept near the harbor.)

There is some good news. State, county and city road crews have been able to do other work instead of plowing snow, easing strain on government budgets compared to last winter.

But the situation is dire for motels, taverns and lodges that depend on snow for winter snowmobile business across much of the region. There are few places in the state that have had consistently good trail conditions, according to the weekly Minnesota conservation officer report.

In the Grand Rapids area, the Lawron Trail Riders “are still sad to report that we don’t have enough snow to groom the trails,” their most recent post notes. “It looks like a few people have been out. Power lines and swamps are real rough. If you do go out, use extreme caution. Snow dance, PLEASE!”

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website reports most state park cross-country and snowmobile trails in northern Minnesota are in fair, poor or even closed condition - in many cases there isn’t enough snow to fully cover the ground or groom trails.

“Trail conditions around Duluth could be considered poor at best and, in most cases, terrible,” John Hartley said in his most recent Northeast Minnesota Snowmobiling Blog report.

Far north has ample snow

The exception to the snow drought is northern St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties, where more snow has fallen, and Wisconsin’s South Shore snowbelt, where huge dollops of November snow are still on the ground.

“When you get far north, however, things improve. In northeast Minnesota from Finland northward, most of the trails are groome,d and many of them are in good shape …,” the snowmobile blog reported. ”Grab a trailer and head to the far northeast corner of the state, and you will be happy.”

Dan Bauman, owner of Golden Eagle Lodge on the Gunflint Trail, said groomed ski trails in his area are in prime condition. More than 55 inches of snow have fallen this winter along the trail.

“When we checked a few days ago, we actually had more snow this year than we did last year. We have plenty,” Bauman said. “Our regulars are here. And we’re getting some business from places where they don’t have enough snow for decent skiing.”

Bauman’s winter business, now in its 39th year, caters exclusively to cross-country skiers and snowshoers, and those folks now have a nearly 20-inch base of snow in the woods to play on.

Don’t stow shovels or skis just yet

Last winter, December saw heavy snow. But by mid-winter the pace slowed dramatically, with just 9.4 inches falling in January and little in the first half of February, just like this year.

But then the clouds let loose, and it didn’t stop snowing from mid-February until May. More than 6 feet of snow fell in Duluth after this date last year.

Duluth ended up with nearly 30 inches of February snow last winter, 21 inches in March and a cruel 26 inches in April - nearly a full winter’s worth of snow in about 75 days - on the way to a 130.2-inch seasonal total, the third-snowiest winter recorded in the city.

Winter warmer than normal

After a frigid November that came in 7 degrees below normal, December was balmy, with a dozen days at freezing or above and a full 7.2 degrees above normal.

January also was warmer than usual, ending 2.5 degrees above normal.

The National Climate Prediction Center is predicting mostly normal temperatures for the next 90 days for most of the Upper Midwest.