Stratus Quo: Clouds hang as milder air eases in
What happens in Minnesota in December when it warms up? You guessed it.
Pick your favorite shade of gray and you'll find it on Minnesota's weather color palette the next few days. It's one of the ironies of winter in Minnesota. When it's sunny and bright it's usually frigid under dry arctic skies. When it warms up as moist southerly winds interact with snow cover, 50 shades of gray.
A persistent southerly air flow the next few days means plenty of clouds as temperatures gradually edge upward into thaw territory.
(Insert gratuitous tropical photo here to boost mental outlook of readers.)
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Slow motion warming trend
High pressure gradually slides east today as light southerly breezes take hold over the Upper Midwest. Out west, the well advertised Pacific storm moves ashore with heavy rain and mountain snows. A stalled nor'easter dumps heavy snow in New England.
The southerly wind flow pumps warm air aloft into Minnesota. Temperatures 3,000 feet above ground will approach 60 degrees in the next 48 hours. The warm air aloft, and coolness near the ground is what we call a temperature inversion. Inversions in winter are great for trapping low clouds and fog near the surface.
As we like to say in the weather biz; It's a nice day -- at 3,000 feet.
The best antidote for braking up temperature inversions? A good breeze. Light winds today won't do the trick. But the pressure gradient increases sightly Friday. That should be enough to mix down some of the milder air from above, thin the cloud deck a bit and help boost temps to the 40 degree mark over much of southern Minnesota.
Want instant spring the next few days? Drive nine hours west to the the Black Hills banana belt, or hop a quick flight to Denver.
Weekend thaw still on track
Remember that stealthy overnight snow eating warm front on an early Sunday morning on Nov. 23? Temps rose overnight to 51 degrees and rapidly devoured a couple inches of snow cover.
Winter warm fronts have a way of making progress after dark and that could be the case this weekend. We take a step forward Friday, then the warm air moves in in full force this weekend. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model nailed our late November warm up, and continues to lead the charge for a weekend thaw.
West Coast storm peaks in Bay Area today
Heavy rains have been focused north of San Francisco so far but multiple waves of heavy rain and high winds will strafe the Bay Area today. Waves of rain offshore are aiming for the Bay Area today.
High winds gusting to near 50 miles per hour have already produced numerous power outages. These numbers will grow through tonight.
The core of a howling jet stream is about to rotate into the Bay Area. Look for damage reports on national newscasts tonight.
Hang on Cali!