Delightful May days ahead

From Bill Endersen, meteorologist

Widely scattered popcorn showers and thunderstorms dotted the skies across Minnesota this afternoon. They have been extremely hit-and-miss because they are being generated by an upper level low pressure center rotating over the state, without a real focusing mechanism like a front to provide some organization. All it took was a little daytime heating to get things going.

Some of the thunderstorms have produced small hail which we normally associate with tall cumulonimbus clouds on hot summer days. Today the freezing air that turns raindrops into hailstones is only about five thousand feet up. So small hailstones form in the clouds and do not melt on their way to the surface.

These showers should diminish as we go through the evening hours. One or two might pass over the Twins game at Target Field but a significant rain delay is unlikely. Expect temperatures to slide slowly from the low 60s into the 50s during the game.

Nicer

Look for delightful May weather tomorrow and Thursday. High temperatures will be mainly in the 60s tomorrow and the 70s on Thursday.

Wet Again?

The next chance of showers will come our way on Friday courtesy of a cold front. That sets us up for....

A Delightful Weekend

We should be able to stick a smiley face on the upcoming weekend. There will be lots of sun courtesy of fresh high pressure. Saturday will be slightly cooler than normal with highs in the 60s. Sunday should be five to ten degrees warmer than Saturday

Space Weather Update

The massive cluster of sunspots that first appeared to us a couple days ago has hurled two coronal mass ejections our way. The first blast of this highly energetic material should reach Earth Wednesday morning and the second shot should arrive very early on Thursday. Auroras are possible although the nights are growing quite short in the northern polar regions where most of the best auroras usually appear.