Wednesday rain and thunder, frosty fishing opener

Springtime Two-Step

Ah, springtime in Minnesota.

Sunny skies and 92 degrees Friday. Choking in wildfire smoke by the wee hours Saturday morning. A mom-worthy Mother's Day. Steel gray skies and rain showers by Monday. Two steps forward, one step back. Lather, rinse, repeat.

SAD in winter. Seasonal confusion in spring. Summer weekend calendar overload. It's enough to make even the heartiest of Minnesotans long for a more stable sunny , San Diego climate at times. My informal poll of Minnesotans over 30+ years of weather watching here shows that 76.2% of Minnesotans describe sunny days with highs in the 70s as their "favorite" weather.

Personally I'm not complaining. We need the rain. The landscape just burst to a new level of vibrant green hues. The fires in Canada and northern Minnesota remind us that rainwater is a most precious commodity. We're lucky to have so much fresh water in Minnesota.

Tuesday soaker

Southern Minnesota picked up the heaviest rain totals Tuesday as expected.

Next low pressure wave Wednesday

This multi-headed low pressure system kicks another wave east Wednesday. This one will pack a little more concentrated bark. A line of rain and thunder sweeps east across Minnesota Wednesday. Clearing northwest breezes kick in Thursday, and increasing sunshine will make for a good looking weather day.

A few thundershowers could be vigorous Wednesday. Downpours, lighting and even some small hail may rain down. Limited instability parameters should keep the storms below severe limits. NOAA's SPC paints the severe risk south. Chicago, Des Moines, KC, Oklahoma and Texas ride the risk zone Wednesday.

Another soaking

Northeast Minnesota should get more rain Wednesday than you saw Tuesday. Good news to tamp down fire danger for a little while. Another half-inch could fall in many locations Wednesday.

Here's the latest fire danger map from the Minnesota DNR before the rains.

Latest fire updates from MNICS here.

Sunnier Thursday

Here's a snapshot of the Euro model output from YR Norway for the next 48 hours. Thursday looks like a deceptively nice day as sun peeks out as temps recover into the mid to upper 60s. My temp forecast numbers overlaid.

Frosty fishing opener

The weekend looks cool but dry. Expect a touch of frost Saturday morning anywhere outside the inner metro urban core. High recover into the 50s statewide Saturday and Sunday.

Smoke cyclone

Now I've seen everything. NOAA's Suomi NPP high resolution satellite captured this smoky, almost hurricane-like cyclonic feature rotating near Great Slave Lake in northern Canada after the smoke injection from the Fort McMurray area fires. No, we humans can't possibly change weather systems. They don't teach you this stuff in weather school.

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