Breathing easier: Rain-washed air quality improves dramatically
Timing is everything.
Our weekday soaking comes at a fortuitous time for parts of Minnesota.
The steady rains did an excellent job of washing smoke-filled air clean over most of Minnesota in the past 24 hours. Air quality has improved dramatically since last weekend. All sites in Minnesota were in the good "green" range this morning, with AQI readings under 50.
Compare those numbers to last weekend, when the AQI spiked at a "very unhealthy" reading of 227 as the thick wildfire smoke plume choked the Twin Cities at 5 am Saturday morning.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Impressive rainfall totals south
Some impressive rainfall totals are piling up in the southern half of Minnesota. Sp far the Twin Cities has picked up between .50" to 1" in most areas. Heavier totals fell west of the Twin Cities toward Gaylord, Willmar and New Ulm. Here's the storm total rainfall map from Weather Underground.
Here are some selected rainfall totals from the Twin Cities NWS. Check your town's rain gauge on the full list here.
MAX/MIN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TABLE FOR MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
738 AM CDT TUE MAY 10 2016
DLH : Duluth : 64 / 44 / 0.00/ 0.0/ 0
INL : International Falls : 73 / 46 / 0.00/ 0.0/ 0
MSP : Minneapolis MN : 68 / 49 / 0.88/ 0.0/ 0
RST : Rochester MN : 60 / 49 / 0.96/ M/ M
STC : St Cloud MN : 69 / 47 / 0.33/ 0.0/ 0
AXN : Alexandria MN : 67 / 50 / 0.30
GNA : Grand Marais : 50 / 42 / 0.00
HIB : Hibbing : 69 / 43 / 0.00
RWF : Redwood Falls MN : 59 / 53 / 0.68
MIC : Crystal MN : 70 / 50 / 0.65
FCM : Flying Cloud MN : 70 / 50 / 0.86
STP : St Paul MN : 68 / 49 / 0.85
GLDM5: Gaylord MN : DH0700/ 59 / 49 / 1.24/ 0.0/ 0
MNMC03 : Hutchinson 0.9 NNE : DH0700/ 1.42 / M / M/
MNBW02 : New Ulm 0.8 NW : DH0500/ 2.27 / M / M/
Slow moving low
This system is coming in waves. Rain has been slow to push into northeast Minnesota. The best opportunity for a good soaking in Duluth, Iron Range cities and Ely arrives tomorrow.
NOAA's NAM 4 km resolution model paints the next waves of rain across Minnesota through tomorrow. Your results may vary.
In the meantime today, fire danger remains high near Ely and in the BWCAW in northeast Minnesota.
Scattered rain and a shot of T-Storms linger across Minnesota through tomorrow. Sun peeks out starting Thursday, setting the table for a cool but dry fishing opener weekend. Here's the short term 48 hour meteogram from YR Norway. My (Fahrenheit) temp forecast in blue.
Warmer days ahead?
All signs point to a return of pre-summer warmth, with high in the 70s and 80s again by the weekend of May 21st.
University of Saint Thomas professor John Abraham wins Friend of Darwin and Friend of the Planet award
I'm happy to hear that frequent Climate Cast guest Dr. John Abraham has won this award from the National Center for Science Education. John is one of the top climate science communicators on the planet in my professional opinion. I've interviewed many of the world's top climate scientists, and John's talent for clearly communicating climate science is at the highest level. He's in good company here with the likes of Kathryn Hayhoe, who was also on Climate Cast recently.
Congratulations John!
NCSE is also pleased to announce the winners of the Friend of the Planet award for 2016: Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University; Dana Nuccitelli and John P. Abraham, who contribute the Climate Consensus – the 97% column to the Guardian; and Skeptical Science, a website devoted to explaining climate change science and rebutting global warming misinformation created and maintained by John Cook of the University of Queensland.
"All of the Friends of the Planet for 2016 shine as climate communicators, in different but complementary ways," Reid explained. "Katharine Hayhoe excels at building connections between science and society and Dana Nuccitelli and John Abraham have consistently provided timely commentary on the latest developments. And Skeptical Science is simply unrivaled as a vast, up-to-date, and in-depth source of accurate and accessible information on climate change science."
The Friend of Darwin and Friend of the Planet awards are presented annually to a select few whose efforts to support NCSE and advance its goal of defending the teaching of evolution and climate science have been truly outstanding. Previous recipients of the Friend of Darwin award include Niles Eldredge, Susan Epperson, John F. Haught, and the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v. Dover. Previous recipients of the Friend of the Planet Award include Michael Mann, Naomi Oreskes, and the Alliance for Climate Education.