Forecasting ‘the path of totality’ for Monday’s solar eclipse
Forecast cloud cover for 1 p.m. Monday (approximate total eclipse time frame) with path of totality.
NOAA via pivotal weather
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Turns out, Tuesday was the perfect day to listen to Prince’s hit song, “Sometimes it Snows in April.” A significant portion of the state saw more snowfall following last week’s storm.
But the big news of the week is Monday’s incoming solar eclipse. MPR News’ chief meteorologist Paul Huttner is here with his forecast for the path of totality, plus the weather for the rest of the week.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: You probably-- if you were listening yesterday, you probably enjoyed the Prince song "Sometimes It Snows in April." It was appropriate because we had some snow yesterday. It was the perfect time to listen to that song. Because a lot of the state saw some snowfall. Our friends in Wisconsin still seeing some snow. Joining us right now is MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner with the latest snowfall totals. Hey, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: Hey, Cathy. This was a big system, and we got pretty lucky, kind of a glancing blow here in Minnesota. We had the snow showers in the Twin Cities on and off. But Southeast Minnesota got accumulating snow. We're talking about 3.4 inches in Rochester, about 3.7 in Caledonia, Winona County, 3 to 6 inches. And right across the River in Lacrosse, 14.2 inches of snow.
CATHY WURZER: Wow.
PAUL HUTTNER: This system also produced an inch to two inches of rain across much of Southern Wisconsin with that snow elsewhere further north in the state. So this was a lot like our storm last week where we had more than an inch of rain and produced a foot of snow in some areas, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Wow, and, of course, these winds, too, wow. I'm assuming that's why they're having so many power outages and trees down in Wisconsin because of the heavy snow, and then the winds. It's also really windy around here too.
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, and that wind advisory continues for most all of Southern Minnesota, Twin Cities and points south until 10 o'clock tonight. We'll see gusts near 50. I've already seen 46 in Fairmont, 47 in Jackson in Southwest Minnesota. Twin Cities gusted to 38 earlier. And we could hit 45 this afternoon at least.
We're at 44 degrees now, winds gusting up into the 30s. And it looks like we will be pretty quiet as we head through the next few days, Cathy. The winds will start to dive off tomorrow. Think we'll see lots of sunshine in Western Minnesota, a few clouds hanging around East. 48 in the Twin Cities tomorrow.
But then Friday and Saturday, looking like the two picks of the week here. Mostly sunny, milder, 51 on Friday, about 56 Saturday in the Twin Cities. Sunday, maybe a few rain showers. We're still about 49 degrees, so a little bit better as we head through the rest of this week.
CATHY WURZER: OK, so maybe a little bit of rain on Sunday. Is that right?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it looks fairly light at this point. Maybe a couple snowflakes mixed in, but it doesn't look like a big deal.
CATHY WURZER: OK, good. And then I was talking to Sven earlier this morning. Are we still looking at a pretty decent warmup for next week, like 60s?
PAUL HUTTNER: We are. It looks like 50s Monday, Tuesday, still kind of cool-ish, pretty close to normal. But we warm up Wednesday right through next weekend. So 50s to around 60 next Wednesday and Thursday. Looks like we're in the 60s, Twin Cities and Southern Minnesota.
Next Friday and Saturday, the models keep cranking out 70 degrees in Southwest Minnesota. A few of them have been pushing that into the Twin Cities, Cathy. So we'll see how that pans out. But it does look a lot more like spring. I'm very tempted to take the snow stakes out of the weather lab driveway. I think we might be done with accumulating snow, especially in Central and Southern Minnesota. Can't rule out a little more up north, though, this time of the year.
CATHY WURZER: But if it does snow, we're going to blame you because you took the snow stakes out.
PAUL HUTTNER: Of course. That's why I'm here. Yeah, exactly.
CATHY WURZER: Say, speaking of Sven Sundgaard, our meteorologist and our colleague, he says he's going to-- I think it was what, Indiana? Or he's going to head out of Illinois possibly to see the eclipse next week. Is it still looking cloudy for Minnesota in the path of totality next Monday?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it looks cloudy in Minnesota. And there's some better news for the path of totality. Still looks cloudy, Texas, Arkansas. The latest models I'm looking at say we may have a clear slide in parts of southern Illinois into Indiana. So Sven has a shot at having clear skies.
And then the Northeast looks good. So I would say about 50% of the path of totality has a cloudy forecast right now. But about 50% has partly cloudy to sunny. So that could be some great news for eclipse viewing next week.
CATHY WURZER: OK, we'll see what happens. And how about Climate Cast?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, so this is interesting. We talked to a guy who interviewed two EV dealerships around the Twin Cities, right? One in Elk River, one in St. Louis Park. And it turns out there's different sales pitches for EVs in red versus blue counties right here, even in Minnesota. Now, some things are the same. But some of the pitches are different. And we will talk about that tomorrow on Climate Cast.
CATHY WURZER: Hmm. That truly is a tease. I do like that. All right, sounds good. Thanks. Hope you have a good rest of the day, too, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: You too. Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Thanks. That's Paul Huttner, our chief meteorologist. You can listen to Paul and my colleague Tom Crann on All Things Considered later this afternoon. If you're looking for fresh weather information, you can always check the "Updraft" blog. You find that at mprnews.org.
PAUL HUTTNER: Hey, Cathy. This was a big system, and we got pretty lucky, kind of a glancing blow here in Minnesota. We had the snow showers in the Twin Cities on and off. But Southeast Minnesota got accumulating snow. We're talking about 3.4 inches in Rochester, about 3.7 in Caledonia, Winona County, 3 to 6 inches. And right across the River in Lacrosse, 14.2 inches of snow.
CATHY WURZER: Wow.
PAUL HUTTNER: This system also produced an inch to two inches of rain across much of Southern Wisconsin with that snow elsewhere further north in the state. So this was a lot like our storm last week where we had more than an inch of rain and produced a foot of snow in some areas, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Wow, and, of course, these winds, too, wow. I'm assuming that's why they're having so many power outages and trees down in Wisconsin because of the heavy snow, and then the winds. It's also really windy around here too.
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, and that wind advisory continues for most all of Southern Minnesota, Twin Cities and points south until 10 o'clock tonight. We'll see gusts near 50. I've already seen 46 in Fairmont, 47 in Jackson in Southwest Minnesota. Twin Cities gusted to 38 earlier. And we could hit 45 this afternoon at least.
We're at 44 degrees now, winds gusting up into the 30s. And it looks like we will be pretty quiet as we head through the next few days, Cathy. The winds will start to dive off tomorrow. Think we'll see lots of sunshine in Western Minnesota, a few clouds hanging around East. 48 in the Twin Cities tomorrow.
But then Friday and Saturday, looking like the two picks of the week here. Mostly sunny, milder, 51 on Friday, about 56 Saturday in the Twin Cities. Sunday, maybe a few rain showers. We're still about 49 degrees, so a little bit better as we head through the rest of this week.
CATHY WURZER: OK, so maybe a little bit of rain on Sunday. Is that right?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it looks fairly light at this point. Maybe a couple snowflakes mixed in, but it doesn't look like a big deal.
CATHY WURZER: OK, good. And then I was talking to Sven earlier this morning. Are we still looking at a pretty decent warmup for next week, like 60s?
PAUL HUTTNER: We are. It looks like 50s Monday, Tuesday, still kind of cool-ish, pretty close to normal. But we warm up Wednesday right through next weekend. So 50s to around 60 next Wednesday and Thursday. Looks like we're in the 60s, Twin Cities and Southern Minnesota.
Next Friday and Saturday, the models keep cranking out 70 degrees in Southwest Minnesota. A few of them have been pushing that into the Twin Cities, Cathy. So we'll see how that pans out. But it does look a lot more like spring. I'm very tempted to take the snow stakes out of the weather lab driveway. I think we might be done with accumulating snow, especially in Central and Southern Minnesota. Can't rule out a little more up north, though, this time of the year.
CATHY WURZER: But if it does snow, we're going to blame you because you took the snow stakes out.
PAUL HUTTNER: Of course. That's why I'm here. Yeah, exactly.
CATHY WURZER: Say, speaking of Sven Sundgaard, our meteorologist and our colleague, he says he's going to-- I think it was what, Indiana? Or he's going to head out of Illinois possibly to see the eclipse next week. Is it still looking cloudy for Minnesota in the path of totality next Monday?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it looks cloudy in Minnesota. And there's some better news for the path of totality. Still looks cloudy, Texas, Arkansas. The latest models I'm looking at say we may have a clear slide in parts of southern Illinois into Indiana. So Sven has a shot at having clear skies.
And then the Northeast looks good. So I would say about 50% of the path of totality has a cloudy forecast right now. But about 50% has partly cloudy to sunny. So that could be some great news for eclipse viewing next week.
CATHY WURZER: OK, we'll see what happens. And how about Climate Cast?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, so this is interesting. We talked to a guy who interviewed two EV dealerships around the Twin Cities, right? One in Elk River, one in St. Louis Park. And it turns out there's different sales pitches for EVs in red versus blue counties right here, even in Minnesota. Now, some things are the same. But some of the pitches are different. And we will talk about that tomorrow on Climate Cast.
CATHY WURZER: Hmm. That truly is a tease. I do like that. All right, sounds good. Thanks. Hope you have a good rest of the day, too, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: You too. Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Thanks. That's Paul Huttner, our chief meteorologist. You can listen to Paul and my colleague Tom Crann on All Things Considered later this afternoon. If you're looking for fresh weather information, you can always check the "Updraft" blog. You find that at mprnews.org.
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