Frosty again north; Gray’s Bay dam open on Minnetonka
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This should be the last time this spring you'll have to cover grandma's garden in the north metro.
Our chilly late season Canadian air mass brings one more frosty morning Wednesday north of the metro. The recipe for frost? Clear skies, light winds and dew points in the lower 30s.
Those meteorological parameters are in place along the Interstate 94 corridor from Fargo to north of the metro early Wednesday.
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INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LONG PRAIRIE...LITTLE FALLS...PRINCETON...MORA...ST. CLOUD...FOLEY...ELK RIVER...CAMBRIDGE...CENTER CITY...OSCEOLA...RICE LAKE...LADYSMITH...HUDSON...MENOMONIE...CHIPPEWA FALLS...EAU CLAIRE
235 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 2015
...FROST ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 8 AM CDT WEDNESDAY...
* TEMPERATURE...LOWS BETWEEN 28 TO 34 DEGREES.
* IMPACTS...SENSITIVE OUTDOOR VEGETATION MAY BE DAMAGED OR KILLED IF PROPER PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A FROST ADVISORY MEANS THAT FROST IS POSSIBLE. SENSITIVE OUTDOOR PLANTS MAY BE KILLED IF LEFT UNCOVERED.
High and dry
Our big Canadian high pressure cell keeps us dry through Friday. The protecting high pressure center shoves Wednesday rain system south of Minnesota.
Life gets a little milder on the back side of high pressure as we move through this week.
Front loading Memorial Day weekend?
The first part of the Memorial Day weekend still looks like the warmer drier days. Models from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Forecast System and from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts keep spinning low pressure toward Minnesota by Sunday.
Maybe we should adopt flexible holiday weekends based on weather trends in Minnesota. That might be something that could actually pass the legislative session. We change the clocks twice a year, why not the calendar?
How about Thursday through Saturday this year for Minnesota's Memorial Day weekend?
Gray's Bay dam opens
The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District opened the Gray's Bay dam (slightly) for the first time this year on Monday.
Thanks to stable weather patterns, the water level in Lake Minnetonka has been fairly steady this spring. Recent rains are starting to push the lake level slightly higher.
Last year at this time, the dam was roaring wide open pumping 300 cubic feet per second into Minnehaha Creek. The dam was about to be over-washed by the unrelenting rise in Lake Minnetonka as monsoonal spring rains overwhelmed the Minnehaha Creek watershed.
Water levels on Lake Minnetonka would reach new record levels last June. That prompted a virtual shut down high speed boating and wakes as a high water emergency was declared.
Many docks on Minnetonka remained submerged for days to weeks last year.
So far this spring's weather is behaving and leading to more stable lake levels in the metro.
Cold water
One final though as you head for the lake this weekend. Water temps in most Minnesota lakes are still in the hypothermic 50s. If you are heading out on the water, the life jacket is a much better decoration around your body than in the boat stash this weekend.
Stay safe out there!