“May-tastic” Weekend; 80 next week? DIY weather “widgets”

Mostly sunny skies for the 2012 Fishing Opener and Mother's Day

Several May daily rainfall records set

(from Mark Seeley's weekly Weather Talk - details below)

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String of 70s next week, no cool air in sight

80 possible Monday to Wednesday?

Rainy & thundery pattern evolving late next week

The perfect weekend?

For once the timing appears perfect.

After a cool and showery Friday evening, a dry, sunny bubble of high pressure expands over Minnesota this weekend.

Look for plenty of sun, and highs in the upper 60s to 70s both days this weekend!

Weather "Widgets"

There are plenty of cool, new, useful (and free!) web weather "widgets" and apps out there these days.

Here's a few of these cool, automated "do it yourself" tools to help you visualize the weekend forecast.

Live streaming NOAA Weather Radio. Just scroll down on the player belwo to select a NOAA Weather Radio site close to you. (Courtesy WxUnderground)

You need to upgrade your Flash Player.

Use the YoWindow forecast widget below to "visualize" the forecast this weekend. Just click on the day you want to see, or drag the slider bar on top to the forecast time.

YoWindow.com Forecast by NWS

Up to the minute severe weather watches and warnings from NOAA here.

NOAA warnings map.

The WxUnderground radar "widget" below shows the latest live radar. Just click and drag on the image to move to Minnesota or anywhere you want to see live radar. Zoom as needed.

Breaking weather, climate and natural disaster stories here.

Seeley: Rainfall records set

My MPR colleague Mark Seeley details some of the soggy (but welcome) rainfall records this month on this week's "Weather Talk" post.

Topic: Record rainfalls for some to start early May

According to the NOAA National Climatic Data Center over the first 7 days of May, Minnesota weather observers reported 62 new daily rainfall records, an exceptionally large quantity of records for such a short period of time. Some examples of the record amounts of rainfall include:

May 1st: 1.73 inches at St Cloud Airport

May 2nd: 2.05 inches at Windom and 2.10 inches at Elk River

May 3rd: 2.21 inches at Zumbrota and Wabasha

May 4th: 1.70 inches at Amboy

May 5th: 2.41 inches at Winnebago and 2.33 inches at Sherburn

May 6th: 2.78 inches at Marshall, 2.86 inches at Hawley, 3.06 inches at Redwood Falls, 3.50 inches at Hastings, and 3.62 inches at Pipestone

The 3.62 inches of rainfall reported at Pipestone on May 6th was a new state record for the date, beating the 3.48 inches that fell at Minneota on May 6, 1983.

Many observers now report over 4 inches of rainfall for the month, and some have already totaled over 5 inches. Those over 5 inches include Springfield (5.34"), Hastings (5.18"), and Pipestone (5.90").

The abundant rainfall has alleviated drought across southern and western Minnesota. Earlier this spring up to 33 Minnesota counties were designated to be in severe drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor. In Thursday's release (May 10) of a new drought update, only a small portion of Cook County is left in severe drought. For the most part soils have been recharged with near normal moisture levels, and Minnesota's streams and rivers have risen with the recent abundant rainfall. According to the USGS flows on many southern Minnesota watersheds have risen above the 75th percentile mark.

Have a great weekend!

PH