Best weather in 7 months! Last frost behind us?

Welcome to the "best" stretch of weather in Minnesota in over 7 months!

"Good" weather is relative of course, but with 5 dry days in a row this week this does look like the longest sunny, dry and mild run of weather since last October & November.

Twin Cities forecast "meteogram" shows temperatures rising this week!

(Click to enlarge)

Some numbers:

5 sunny dry days in the 60s & 70s this week (Sunday through Thursday)

6 dry but cooler days in late march (March 24th -30th, temps 30s & 40s)

7 months since we've had a dry spell this long with temperatures in the 60s. (October 28th to November 9th)

"Omega Block" brings great spring weather:

We call this upper air pattern an "Omega Block" in meteorological terms. Troughs in the west and east bracket a big bulging ridge of high pressure centered over Minnesota this week. This "high amplitude" wave pattern brings sunny dry & milder weather to Minnesota.

"Omega Block" pattern brings dry weather this week.

A chorus of lawn mowers.

The hum of lawn mowers was loud and consistent Sunday. The first dry day in a while finally allowed people to get out and cut the grass, many for the first time this year. I cut the weather lab grass for the first time this season Sunday. May 15th is the latest I can ever remember for a first lawn mowing in the metro. Usually you hear mowers going in late April, but not this year.

I also had the chance to put the weather lab "yacht" in Sunday on Lake Minnetonka. Okay, yacht is a bit generous; it's more like a classic Lund putt putt. But it does get me to and from sailing nicely, and allows me to take "observations" of lake conditions and water temps on Minnetonka.

High water warnings are in effect for Lake Minnetonka this spring. You must operate with minimum wake anywhere inside of 600 feet from shore to prevent erosion this spring.

I can't remember seeing Minnetonka this high for many years.

Minnehaha Creek is raging thanks to a dishcarge of 250 CFS from Gray's Bay Dam on Lake Minnetonka.

A check of the boat docks in Carsons Bay shows only about 30% of all boat slips occupied as of May 15th. That's a really low number thanks to our reluctant spring.

Cool May so far:

-1.5 degrees cooler than average in the metro.

88 degrees last Tuesday on May 10th, promptly followed by severe hailstorms and a tornado in St. Michael.

32 degrees at Twin Cities Airport on May 3rd. That is the coldest temp recorded this month. Could that have been our last frost in the spring of 2011?

April 29th - the average date of the last 32 degree reading at MSP Airport.

Looking at the weather pattern 2 weeks out, it is highly likely that our last metro frost is now behind us. Frost is common in northeast Minnesota well into June.

Wet weekend ahead?

Just in time for the weekend, the next rainmaker appears to be headed this way. A slow moving low pressure trof may spread showers and T-Storms in here as early as Friday. The unsettled weather could last into the weekend. Yikes!

GFS model paints rain in Minnesota Saturday morning.

Southern flood woes continue:

At least our flood threat is passed in Minnesota for now. Some of that same water that was sitting on our snow covered landscape is now surging through Mississippi and Louisiana.

Morganza Spillway opens in Louisiana.

Vicksburg, Mississippi exceeded the all time flood record on the Mighty Miss over the weekend.

The slow motion flood disaster will continue this week.

Enjoy our sunny, "perfect" May weather this week!

PH