Saturday storm recap; a bright and cooler Sunday

Many Minnesotans enjoyed summery warmth on Saturday.

Our weather became a bit bumpy late in the day.

Thunderstorms grew rapidly over central and southern Minnesota late Saturday afternoon, and continued into early Saturday evening.

Thunderstorms moved through much of the Twin Cities metro area between about 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., with some very strong winds in spots.

Here are some wind gust reports from Saturday, courtesy of the National Weather Service:

• 5:22 p.m   46 mph in Minnetrista (western Hennepin county)

• 6:02 p.m.  45 mph at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

• 6:10 p.m.  50 mph in Farmington (Dakota county)

• 6:26 p.m.  48 mph Holman Field Airport in St. Paul

The satellite loop from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday shows the thunderstorms billowing upward and spreading to the east-southeast:

The setting sun highlighted the highest thunderstorm tops in the final few frames of the loop.

A cooler Sunday

The official high temp hit 83 degrees Saturday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

That's almost toasty, since our average Twin Cities high temp is only 66 degrees this time of year.

Sunday's highs are expected to reach the lower 70s in the Twin Cities and much of southern and central Minnesota:

Most of northern Minnesota will top out in the 60s.

Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to be in the mid to upper 70s on Monday, followed by lower 70s Tuesday and upper 60s on Wednesday.

Rain opportunities

Minnesota could see scattered showers Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night, but the best chance of rain this coming week will be 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.

Lake Minnetonka ice-out ties the record

The ice has finally melted!

Here are the details, from the Freshwater Society:

Freshwater Society and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Water Patrol declared ice-out on Lake Minnetonka just after 12 noon today (May 5). That makes this year’s ice-out tied for the latest on record, sharing the honors with May 5, 1857. This was 21 days later than the April 14 median date — when half the recorded ice-outs have occurred earlier and half later. In the last twenty years, 14 dates have been earlier than the median date and six have been on or later.

Ice-out records on Lake Minnetonka date back to 1855 and are a valuable if inexact method for revealing long-term trends. There is no one best way to determine ice-out on lakes; methods vary from lake to lake so consistency from year to year is what researchers and agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources prefer to see. Lake Minnetonka is declared ice-free when a boat can pass through channels and navigate all portions of the lake.

The ice-out call for 2018 was made after monitoring the ice from shore and communicating with nearby Freshwater members and the Water Patrol. Once conditions allowed, the Water Patrol began boat trips accompanied by Freshwater Society board members and friends to areas of the lake where significant ice remained.

Freshwater Society board member Kent Warden and Hennepin County Water Patrol deputies were on the lake and noted there was some ice remaining but that all the lake’s bays and channels were fully navigable. Lake Minnetonka is the metro area’s largest lake, just over 14,500 acres in size with 37 bays.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has ice-out information for many Minnesota lakes.

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.