Wildfire season peaks; windy Sunday with a shot at 80 Monday
A little frost. Plenty of sun. A little wind. In other words, a classic spring weekend in Minnesota.
Saturday morning starts frosty in much of Minnesota. But our strong last weekend of April sun pushes temperatures higher by afternoon. By Sunday milder breezes blow into Minnesota. Temperatures will make a run at 70 degrees Sunday afternoon across from the Twin Cities westward. By Monday, the season's warmest air mass arrives. Much of southern and western Minnesota could hit 80 degrees Monday afternoon.
Wildfire risk
Our warm dry weather is welcome to many of us. But it raises the danger of fast moving wildfires on tinder dry brush before spring green-up.
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Fire danger is elevated across Minnesota.
Fires and floods
Welcome to Minnesota where multiple natural disasters are possible At the same time. Many rivers are in flood this weekend.
Stormy Monday?
Several models suggest a chance of stray thunderstorms with the advancing warm front early Monday. Additional chances for showers and T-Storms will arrive Tuesday and Wednesday. Severe weather is unlikely, but occasional scattered showers and a few T-Storms are likely Monday through Wednesday of next week. Here's NOAA's GFS model.
The best chance for severe weather is southwest of Minnesota Monday.
Safe to plant?
We'll see more frost in the northern half of Minnesota. But after Saturday morning there a growing chance it may be safe to plant in the Twin Cities. We usually risk at lest small pots that we can cover once or twice of necessary.
NOAA's GFS suggest another morning in the upper 30s in early May.
Planting now may still be risky, but we're getting close.
Then again, I like to live on the edge.