Pancake Effect: Maple sap weather ahead; Friday night soaker?

Pancake Effect

Get ready for maple sap weather.

Our milder sunny days and cool night this week are perfect to get the annual maple sap run going.

My good neighbor and longtime Deephaven resident Howie Bennis is the guy who taps the trees around the weather lab each spring. Howie boils up some of the finest maple syrup in the land under the label "Deephaven Sugarbush."

Good luck getting your hands on some during the short window between production and plate.

The forecast looks favorable for moderate to heavy flows of sweet amber nectar in the next 2-3 weeks.

In today's Updraft we talk about what makes good "maple sap weather," a nice warm up and a good soaker as we head into the weekend.

Yum!

Maple Sap Weather

It could be a better year for pancake lovers in Minnesota.

Last year's record warmth robbed us of good maple sap flows in Minnesota. The 70 degree warmth was nice, but shut down the normally prolific maple sap flows of spring.

This week should mark the start of favorable maple sap weather.

What makes perfect weather for maple sap in Minnesota?

Thawing soils, cool night below freezing and sunny days in the 40s.

That will (finally) happen this week.

Richard DeVries from the UM Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen weighs in on the reluctant season so far.

We need a couple warm, sunny days to warm up the trees and melt some of the snow. We don't want it too warm, because we still want to get some frosty nights in April. According to our records of past years, we get most of our sap in April. That means there is no need to panic, I keep telling myself.

The forecast looks promising for the next few days.I know it's dangerous to make any predictions but I expect to be cooking this Saturday. I really hope it works out because it is our last official open house of the season. Even though this is the last official open house, visitors are always welcome to visit the Maple Sugar House to see what we are up to.

Let's hope the sap starts pouring as temperatures rise this week.

Friday night soaker?

Things are looking good for a soaking rain...and maybe some thunder Friday night into Saturday.

A slow moving low will ride east into southern Minnesota Friday night.

Precip totals with the system look impressive...and may exceed 1" in the heaviest bands.

The latest model trends shift the system slightly north.

That may put the heaviest precip band slightly north of the metro...favoring Alex, St. Cloud & Hinckley. It may also mean warmer temps for the metro...with 50s and even a shot at 60F for southern Minnesota Saturday.

The latest Euro run is cranking out 60F for the metro Saturday.

Stay tuned.

PH