Drought erased in Metro; 100% sunny today; Weekend not so scary wet

Welcome Sunshine

Thursday dawns with a welcome sight in Minnesota. The sun.

It's been a long soggy stretch since Friday in Minnesota. Several areas including the metro have waterlogged 3" to 4"+ rainfall totals in the past 5 days.

Today's sunshine is welcome tonic.

We've seen a dramatic shift in weather patterns over Minnesota the past 4 months.

We've quite literally gone from extreme drought to floods, tragic rockslides, and saturated soils so wet farmers can't get crops started.

In this Updraft we celebrate the sun to come, take a squeamish look at a potentially wet Memorial Day Weekend forecast... and look at an overall weather pattern that still screams wet in the next few weeks.

Drought Fading Fast: New U.S. Drought Monitor plays catch up with recent rainfall

It's literally nothing short of remarkable. Like somebody flipped a light switch in this spring...and a series of sloppy ran & snow events wiped out drought in most of the Midwest.

Today's updated US Drought Monitor shows just how far we've come in eliminating drought from the Twin Cities to the south & east.

The picture is even more encouraging when you zoom down to the Midwest level.

And finally Minnesota.

You may notice the pace of change on the Drought Monitor seems to be slow compared to conditions we observe on the ground. I'm told by climate gurus that's because deep subsoil moisture and river and lake levels are part of the drought outlook...and they respond more slowly than just the squishy topsoil conditions we feel underfoot.

Good News: Sun returns through Friday

Always give compliments first, somebody once said. It prepares the audience for what may come next.

Thursday and most of Friday will feature glorious sunshine.

The Weather Tap 1km resolution visible satellite loop finally shows Minnesota basking in sun this morning.

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We enjoy about 48 hours to dry out with ample sun through Friday afternoon.

The next wave of rain moves in...um....Friday night and as we head into the Memorial Day weekend.

Memorial Day Weekend: Partly wet with a chance of sun?

I know... just in time for the weekend.

I'm still holding out hope for a change for the better...and sunnier this weekend but right now it looks like we'll have to endure our share of wet. The latest overnight European model and others are trending slightly drier this weekend...but still bring a few waves of showers to southern Minnesota. It also hints at temps near 90F next Thursday!

The first wave of rain moves in Friday night.

Go North Young Man:

Hopefully the warm front that will trigger clouds and rain will set up a little further south...and that means weather will improve this weekend for those travelling north. Little or no rain...and more sun may be the rule north of a Fargo-Brainerd -Duluth line this weekend.

Here's NOAA's 5-day precip forecast.

The good news? I expect significant improvement in Minnesota's drought when the US Drought Monitor comes out Thursday morning.

The drought is over folks.

Paul Huttner