April showers give way to dry winds today, mid-week soaker ahead?
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You could feel it in the air Sunday. The season formerly known as spring is back in a big way.
It's as if Minnesotans took a collective deep breath after being in clench mode for the last six months. Finally, warm sunshine and balmy temperatures replaced any weather psycho babble about wind chill, rain-snow lines and abrupt snowfall gradients.
74 degrees - high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Sunday.
Oct. 11 - last time we hit 74 degrees at MSP Airport
.2 inch rainfall at MSP Airport this morning
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The winds of April
Our morning showers brought the highest dew points of the year so far to Minnesota. Dew points in the upper 50s to near 60 degrees felt nearly tropical, a big change from recent months.
Our wet morning gives way to an increasingly dry windy afternoon across Minnesota. As a cold front sweep through from the northwest, winds kick up from 20 miles per hour to as high as 35 mph across the state. Dew points in the Canadian air mass behind the front are dry, in the lower 30s and sweeping south today.
Here's the mesoanalysis from College of DuPage with winds and dew points plotted over the NASA GOES 1 km visible satellite this morning.
The highest danger of quick moving wildfires today is across southwest Minnesota. Red flag warnings are flying this afternoon. Not the best day to burn brush in southwest Minnesota. The fire you start may quickly go places you never expected.
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MORRIS...MADISON...BENSON...MONTEVIDEO...GRANITE FALLS...OLIVIA...REDWOOD FALLS...NEW ULM...ST. PETER...ST. JAMES...MANKATO...FAIRMONT...BLUE EARTH
254 AM CDT MON APR 21 2014
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR WEST CENTRAL INTO SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* AFFECTED AREA...WEST CENTRAL THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM MORRIS TO MANKATO TO BLUE EARTH.
* WINDS...NORTHWEST 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.
* TIMING...THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.
* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 24 PERCENT.
* TEMPERATURES...IN THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 60S.
* IMPACTS...WILD FIRES COULD BECOME FAST MOVING IN A SHORT PERIOD
OF TIME DUE TO THE STRONG WINDS... LOW HUMIDITY AND DRY FUELS.
Mid-week soaker on the way
Our windy Monday gives way to a fabulous Tuesday with light winds, brilliant sun and temps pushing the low 60s.
The next low pressure wave looks strong. Wednesday features scattered showers and thunderstorms, with a more widespread soaking rain looking more likely Wednesday night and Thursday.
Rainfall totals with the incoming system could be substantial, with much of the state getting a good soaking of .5 to 1 inch rainfall.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Prediction Center is cranking out some decent rainfall totals for the next five days.
We'll take the rain. The southern half of Minnesota is still riding the edge of "Drought Alley" which runs from Texas through Kansas into Iowa and southwest Minnesota. Here's the latest Drought Monitor.
This week's rain is a good start, but it will take 3 to 6 inches of rainfall in the next month to end the drought in southwest Minnesota.
Snowy disappearing act
What a difference four days makes in April. Check out the snow cover map from last Thursday:
and again from this morning.
Progress!
Cooler and wetter week
This week's weather will have you watching your lawn turn new shades of green, and may have you reaching for your umbrella and jacket again. The 60s and 70s give way to 50s as the week rolls on.
Severe weather awareness week
This is also severe weather awareness week in Minnesota and Wisconsin. On Thursday a statewide tornado drill means sirens will sound in most counties. Did you know it's individual cities and counties that control the sirens and not the National Weather service?
The peak of severe season in Minnesota? Generally the weeks between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.
This is a good week to brush up on your severe weather terms and plans before the severe season ramps up the next two months.