A pleasant Sunday; rain opportunities Tuesday and Wednesday
The first five days of May have all been warmer than normal in the Twin Cities metro area.
We'll keep that streak going today.
Temperature trends
Our Sunday afternoon highs are expected to reach the 70s in central and southern Minnesota, with 60s in much of northern Minnesota.
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Temps in most of the Twin Cities metro area should top out in the mid 70s this afternoon.
Our average high is only 67 degrees in the Twin Cities this time of year.
Highs on Monday will reach the 70s in most of Minnesota, with the metro area and a few other spots touching 80:
Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to be in the lower 70s on Tuesday, followed by upper 60s on Wednesday. We should reach 70 on Thursday, then top out in the mid 60s on Friday.
Rain opportunities
Western Minnesota could see scattered showers as early as Tuesday morning. The Twin Cities metro area and other points in eastern Minnesota will have a chance of showers Tuesday afternoon and evening. Periods of rain are a good bet for much of Minnesota on Wednesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern Tuesday through Wednesday:
The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the precipitation rate (mm per hour), not to the total amount of rain.
Southern Minnesota could also see some rain on Friday.
Tornado anniversary
On May 6, 1965 five tornadoes moved across the Twin Cities metro area, with another tornado tracking just to the west of the metro area:
Here are the six tornado paths, courtesy of the National Weather Service:
The Minnesota State Climatology Office produced a summary of the May 6, 1965 Twin Cities tornadoes. Here's a portion of that summary:
On Thursday, May 6, 1965 the worst tornado outbreak in Twin Cities history struck the western and northern metro area, where five tornadoes occurred, with another just to the west in Sibley and McLeod Counties. The barrage of tornadoes lasted nearly three hours, from the early evening until well after dark, but the severe thunderstorms that spawned them lasted many hours longer. Four of the evening's tornadoes were rated F4 on the Fujita Scale , one was an F3 and another was an F2 (see the new "enhanced Fujita" scale here ). Minnesota has not seen a day since then with that many F4 or EF-4 tornadoes.
Debates have continued since 1965 about the actual tornado tracks, their timelines, and about their true human toll, but the official record indicates that the tornadoes killed thirteen people and injured 683 more, with 600 homes destroyed and 1,700 people rendered homeless. Six fatalities occurred in Mounds View with the final tornado of the evening. Another tornado claimed three lives in the Island Park area of Mound, on the north and northwest side of Lake Minnetonka. Other deaths were reported in Fridley, Spring Lake Park, and in Sibley County, between Green Isle and Hamburg.
The Twin Cities NWS office created a detailed report about the 1965 tornadoes. It has numerous pictures and eyewitness accounts of the tornadoes.
A detailed discussion of the tornado paths is also available.
The NWS didn't have Doppler radar in 1965, but the hook echoes of the tornadic thunderstorms were visible on the vintage images from the WSR-57 radar. The NWS compiled a radar loop of the 1965 tornado outbreak, and they posted it on YouTube in 2015:
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.