Only in Minnesota: From tornado warnings to freeze watch
Extreme Case of Weather Whiplash
Talk about "weather whiplash."
At 3:19 p.m. today a trained spotter sighted a tornado just north of Williams about halfway between Baudette and Warroad in far northern Minnesota. The storms also produced ping pong ball sized hail as they rumbled through northern Minnesota.
Fast forward a couple of hours, and tornado warnings turn to a freeze watch issued by the National Weather Service for the same counties for Thursday night and Friday morning.
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URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
322 PM CDT WED SEP 11 2013
...FREEZING TEMPERATURES POSSIBLE ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MINNESOTA
LATE THURSDAY NIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY...
CLEAR AND CALM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE THURSDAY NIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY WHICH COULD RESULT IN FREEZING TEMPERATURES ACROSS PARTS OF FAR NORTHERN MINNESOTA.
KOOCHICHING-NORTHERN ST. LOUIS-NORTHERN COOK/NORTHERN LAKE-
CENTRAL ST. LOUIS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...INTERNATIONAL FALLS...ELY...ISABELLA...
HIBBING
322 PM CDT WED SEP 11 2013
...FREEZE WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY
MORNING...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DULUTH HAS ISSUED A FREEZE WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.
* LOCATION...FAR NORTHERN MINNESOTA INCLUDING THE BORDERLAND...IRON RANGE...AND INTERIOR ARROWHEAD REGIONS.
* TEMPERATURE...28 TO 32 DEGREES POSSIBLE.
* IMPACTS...THE SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES COULD KILL CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION THAT ARE NOT GIVEN ADEQUATE PROTECTION FROM THE COLD.
"September" finally arrives
You'll notice the change of air masses in Minnesota the next few days.
Out: days in the 80s and 90s, muggy dew points in the 60s and 70s.
In: Sunny mild days in the lower 70s and crisp nights in the 40s and 50s with comfortable 40s dew points.
Many will welcome the changes. It is September after all.
Thursday's updated U.S. Drought Monitor will be of interest. Will the "severe drought" area expand in southern Minnesota? How much did significant rains help ease drought in central and northern Minnesota?
In the meantime we enjoy what some consider the best weather of the year the next 48 hours.
Change of air masses ahead
You can give the AC unit a long rest. A cooler and noticeably drier air mass filters into Minnesota from our neighbors in Canada the next few days. This Canadian air mass features dew points in the 40s, and even 30s. That will feel much more like early fall. Here's the (more trusted) European Model data showing the change in air masses ahead.
Welcome rains in central Minnesota
It was a good week for rain in central Minnesota. A swath of multi inch rains fell from the Red River Valley to Wadena and the Brainerd Lake area. Heres' NOAA's AHPS rainfall map for the past seven days. Some areas picked up 2" to 4" in the past week.
When in a drought, don't forecast rain. That's a good mantra for weather forecasters. The trend the next several days favors dryness. But NOAA holds out some hope for above average rainfall in the Dakotas and Minnesota in the next 10 days. Not holding my breath on this one though.
