Fickle week of weather expected to end with storms

NINA MOINI: Well, here at home we've had some roller coaster temperatures this past week, anywhere from the 30s to the 70s. So joining us now to tell us what we can expect ahead, including a possible spring storm, is MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner. Thanks for being with us, Paul.

PAUL HUTTNER: Oh, always my pleasure, Nina. Happy spring. Feels like spring out there today.

NINA MOINI: It really does. And my allergies are also flaring, but that's another chapter. But let's talk about the forecast. Is this mild weather going to be sticking around?

PAUL HUTTNER: It is, for a few days. And like you said, we've got some wild weather whiplash going in the next few days. How about sunshine, temperatures around 70, some thunderstorms, and maybe a blizzard condition in western Minnesota? So all that could happen in about the next three to four days, Nina.

For now, it's quiet, it's sunny. We've got twice as much solar energy coming in now in March than we did in December. That's why our temperatures pop up every afternoon. We're 45 the Twin Cities now. We'll hit 58 this afternoon under sunny skies. Tomorrow, 65 in the Twin Cities, 50s all the way into northern Minnesota tomorrow. And then some high clouds come in tomorrow night. We'll have some breaks, though, I think. Might have a chance to see a little bit of that eclipse. But we could hit 70 on Friday.

NINA MOINI: Yeah tell me a little bit about this. It's a total lunar eclipse. I'm not even really quite sure what that is, Paul, but will it be clear enough to see it?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it will be, in spots. I think we'll have some breaks in the clouds. There's going to be a lot of high clouds across Minnesota, so it might be dim or faint through some of the clouds. I don't think it'll be the greatest night for photography. But if you're a night owl, rejoice! You might be able to see it Thursday night.

It's called the blood worm moon total eclipse-- blood because it will appear red, because it's like the light from the sun passing through Earth's atmosphere, because Earth is in the middle, hits the moon. So it's like the sunrises and sunsets on Earth are projected onto the moon. That's why it looks red, because Earth's atmosphere is really good at scattering out everything but those reddish tones.

And it's a late one, no doubt about it. It'll start at 12:09 AM Thursday night, early Friday morning. From 1:26 to 2:31 it'll be a total eclipse, so about 1:30 to 2:30, and then it ends around 3:47. Well, like I said, Nina, we'll have some high clouds and you may be able to catch some glimpse. Looks like there will be breaks in the clouds, especially Twin Cities and southern Minnesota. So if you're game and if you're up, take a look out there, after midnight tomorrow night.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, that's for the real night owls out there. And so tell me about the severe weather chance that you're tracking for the weekend.

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, this is interesting because this is going to be a major severe weather outbreak. This is a potent spring storm. I'm looking at the map right now for 6 o'clock Friday evening. It's centered around Omaha, Nebraska. Severe weather likely from Iowa south through the Mississippi Valley all the way toward the Gulf Coast.

And guess what? NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has issued their first risk areas of the year for Minnesota, southeast Minnesota. Rochester, Austin, Albert Lea, Winona, you're under a slight risk for severe weather late Friday. Twin Cities in the marginal risk, Nina. That's low, but I think we'll see thunderstorms developing in Iowa Friday, and they'll blast up into southern southeastern Minnesota Friday evening. So lightning, thunder, maybe some hail and gusty winds. These could get a little feisty. We'll keep an eye on it as we head through Friday evening.

And then this whole system chills down and the rain will change to snow in western Minnesota Saturday. Could see near-blizzard conditions. Again, western Minnesota, a few inches of slop. Twin Cities, probably less than an inch, Nina. But it will be much colder, back into the 30s, by the time we get to Sunday.

NINA MOINI: What are you thinking for long-term snow chances? I keep wondering if we're done for the for the year here, so far.

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, you and everyone else, I think. A lot of people are wondering that. It's a great question. Look, we average about 8.2 inches of snow in March, even three and a half in April. So we're probably not done with at least some snow. But we've already had 9.5 inches this month in the Twin Cities, so we've certainly had our quota already.

I do see a slight chance for a little bit of snow next Wednesday, Thursday. We'll see if the models grab onto that. It doesn't look like a big deal right now. But we can certainly say we're not out of the woods for sure until probably we get to mid-April, Nina, but I think we'll see a lot of sunny spring days in between.

NINA MOINI: OK, great. And Paul, what's on Climate Cast this week?

PAUL HUTTNER: So clean energy projects have had, some of them, more than a year wait to get on the power grid. State of Minnesota has a new law that's trying to streamline that permit process, so we'll see how that's going. We'll talk about that on Climate Cast tomorrow on All Things Considered.

NINA MOINI: Awesome. Thank you so much, Paul.

PAUL HUTTNER: My pleasure. Thanks, Nina.

NINA MOINI: That was MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner.