Severe weather awareness week: What to watch for this season
Storm clouds sweep across the sky near Coates, Minn., on Thursday, June 17, 2021. Severe storms dropped large hail across parts of southern Minnesota.
Andrew Krueger | MPR News file
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We’re approaching that time of spring where thunderstorms, hail and even tornadoes are common. During Severe Weather Awareness Week, MPR’s chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joined the show to educate listeners about how to stay safe during severe weather and updated forecasts for the week.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: Well, we are approaching that time of spring where thunderstorms, hail, and even tornadoes are common. That's why this week is Severe Weather Awareness Week. MPR's chief meteorologist Paul Huttner is here to educate us and to bring us the forecast for the week. Thanks for being here, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: Hey. It's my pleasure, Nina. And this year is the 60th anniversary of that 1965 Twin Cities tornado outbreak. That is the biggest outbreak in Twin Cities history. It produced six tornadoes in six counties, mainly in the western Twin Cities. It killed 13 people and injured over 500. So think about that on the scale of today, when we have all these extra suburbs and people, if that happened again, a pretty serious situation.
Now, that was also the first use of civil defense sirens for tornado warnings, something that kind of stuck. So that's why it's Severe Weather Awareness Week this week. Tornado drill Thursday, Nina, 145 and 645. The sirens will sound. Have a plan. Have multiple safety nets to get warnings, NOAA weather radio, the phone, the radio, the TV, all good ways to do that.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. Such an important reminder. Sometimes people can get lost in these, oh, it's Severe Weather Awareness Week but just so critical to people's safety, right, Paul?
PAUL HUTTNER: It is. I mean, what we don't want to see is another 1965-style outbreak and people are unprepared. So yeah, we preach it. Minnesotans are weather savvy. You know the drill, but it's just a good reminder. Be ready. Have a plan in case that day comes again.
NINA MOINI: Definitely. The NOAA weather radio is a good one if you're going to just do one thing. So for the forecast, what can we expect the rest of this week?
PAUL HUTTNER: Kind of baby steps into spring this year, which is interesting because a lot of years we just go right to 80 degrees. But this has been really gradual, kind of nice actually. We've got some showers out there today, Rochester, Saint Cloud. It is snowing on the Iron Range, Boundary Waters, North Shore today, pick up a little light coating.
Twin Cities some scattered showers will top out around 59 today. Tomorrow, a few more showers lingering around 50, and then we get ready for what looks like the springy weekend of the year so far. Maybe a spring in your step, Friday, Saturday. Sunshine, 60 Friday, 67 Saturday.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
PAUL HUTTNER: And it looks like we could hit 70 on Sunday from the Twin Cities west and south, with a slight chance of a shower, but it's going to be a really, really nice weekend it looks like, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That sounds great because I know some of the big weather events have been falling on weekends a lot recently.
PAUL HUTTNER: Yes, they have.
NINA MOINI: How about ice out? What's going on across the state with that?
PAUL HUTTNER: You know, the big picture is we're running about 9, 10 days ahead of average this year. The southern Minnesota lakes went out around March 14. Iowa Lake actually straddles the border with Minnesota and Iowa. Part of it's in Iowa. That was nine days ahead of schedule.
And then you get up into the Twin Cities, Tonka, White Bear, right around March 28, 29. That's about two weeks ahead of schedule. And now you're getting up into central Minnesota, the Aitkin area, a little more like 3, 4 days ahead of schedule or normal, I should say, for those lakes like Pickerel. So we're into central Minnesota now for the smaller lakes, and that'll just work north over the next couple of weeks.
NINA MOINI: OK. So I have in my notes here the green wave. Can you explain what that is and when it's coming to Minnesota? I hope it's not economic.
PAUL HUTTNER: No, I hope not, too. Look, this is one of my favorite things of spring, the little first shoots of leaves that start to come out, They call that leaf out. And the National Phenology Network is this big network, thousands of observers that keep track of these things. So like lilacs and honeysuckle, those are the earliest leaf out plants in the spring. And so far, those first shoots of green have come out in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, about nine days early. They're into Northern Iowa now, and even southern Minnesota, I think, this week.
So Twin Cities over the next one to two weeks, you're really going to notice those little green shoots coming out and then make it up north, as we go through the next few weeks. The green wave is coming, Nina. It's almost here.
NINA MOINI: That is an exciting time of year. It's very hopeful feeling, which is nice. I want to tell us a little bit about what's in store for climate this week, Paul?
PAUL HUTTNER: Sure. We know our allergy seasons in Minnesota are increasing by about a month in the Twin Cities on average. And we're going to talk about trends and longer-term growing seasons, things we're seeing about that on Climate Cast tomorrow during All Things Considered.
NINA MOINI: I had a suspicion that my allergies were starting sooner every year, so I appreciate that. I'll be tuning in. Thanks, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: Appreciate it. Thanks, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That's MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner.
PAUL HUTTNER: Hey. It's my pleasure, Nina. And this year is the 60th anniversary of that 1965 Twin Cities tornado outbreak. That is the biggest outbreak in Twin Cities history. It produced six tornadoes in six counties, mainly in the western Twin Cities. It killed 13 people and injured over 500. So think about that on the scale of today, when we have all these extra suburbs and people, if that happened again, a pretty serious situation.
Now, that was also the first use of civil defense sirens for tornado warnings, something that kind of stuck. So that's why it's Severe Weather Awareness Week this week. Tornado drill Thursday, Nina, 145 and 645. The sirens will sound. Have a plan. Have multiple safety nets to get warnings, NOAA weather radio, the phone, the radio, the TV, all good ways to do that.
NINA MOINI: Absolutely. Such an important reminder. Sometimes people can get lost in these, oh, it's Severe Weather Awareness Week but just so critical to people's safety, right, Paul?
PAUL HUTTNER: It is. I mean, what we don't want to see is another 1965-style outbreak and people are unprepared. So yeah, we preach it. Minnesotans are weather savvy. You know the drill, but it's just a good reminder. Be ready. Have a plan in case that day comes again.
NINA MOINI: Definitely. The NOAA weather radio is a good one if you're going to just do one thing. So for the forecast, what can we expect the rest of this week?
PAUL HUTTNER: Kind of baby steps into spring this year, which is interesting because a lot of years we just go right to 80 degrees. But this has been really gradual, kind of nice actually. We've got some showers out there today, Rochester, Saint Cloud. It is snowing on the Iron Range, Boundary Waters, North Shore today, pick up a little light coating.
Twin Cities some scattered showers will top out around 59 today. Tomorrow, a few more showers lingering around 50, and then we get ready for what looks like the springy weekend of the year so far. Maybe a spring in your step, Friday, Saturday. Sunshine, 60 Friday, 67 Saturday.
NINA MOINI: Wow.
PAUL HUTTNER: And it looks like we could hit 70 on Sunday from the Twin Cities west and south, with a slight chance of a shower, but it's going to be a really, really nice weekend it looks like, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That sounds great because I know some of the big weather events have been falling on weekends a lot recently.
PAUL HUTTNER: Yes, they have.
NINA MOINI: How about ice out? What's going on across the state with that?
PAUL HUTTNER: You know, the big picture is we're running about 9, 10 days ahead of average this year. The southern Minnesota lakes went out around March 14. Iowa Lake actually straddles the border with Minnesota and Iowa. Part of it's in Iowa. That was nine days ahead of schedule.
And then you get up into the Twin Cities, Tonka, White Bear, right around March 28, 29. That's about two weeks ahead of schedule. And now you're getting up into central Minnesota, the Aitkin area, a little more like 3, 4 days ahead of schedule or normal, I should say, for those lakes like Pickerel. So we're into central Minnesota now for the smaller lakes, and that'll just work north over the next couple of weeks.
NINA MOINI: OK. So I have in my notes here the green wave. Can you explain what that is and when it's coming to Minnesota? I hope it's not economic.
PAUL HUTTNER: No, I hope not, too. Look, this is one of my favorite things of spring, the little first shoots of leaves that start to come out, They call that leaf out. And the National Phenology Network is this big network, thousands of observers that keep track of these things. So like lilacs and honeysuckle, those are the earliest leaf out plants in the spring. And so far, those first shoots of green have come out in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, about nine days early. They're into Northern Iowa now, and even southern Minnesota, I think, this week.
So Twin Cities over the next one to two weeks, you're really going to notice those little green shoots coming out and then make it up north, as we go through the next few weeks. The green wave is coming, Nina. It's almost here.
NINA MOINI: That is an exciting time of year. It's very hopeful feeling, which is nice. I want to tell us a little bit about what's in store for climate this week, Paul?
PAUL HUTTNER: Sure. We know our allergy seasons in Minnesota are increasing by about a month in the Twin Cities on average. And we're going to talk about trends and longer-term growing seasons, things we're seeing about that on Climate Cast tomorrow during All Things Considered.
NINA MOINI: I had a suspicion that my allergies were starting sooner every year, so I appreciate that. I'll be tuning in. Thanks, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: Appreciate it. Thanks, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That's MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner.
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