MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner discusses the latest research on our changing climate and the consequences we’re seeing here in Minnesota and worldwide. Hear Climate Cast each Thursday on MPR’s 

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MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner discusses the latest research on our changing climate and the consequences we’re seeing here in Minnesota and worldwide.


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The U.S. military unearthed data about rising sea levels in the early 1950s — and has been closely watching this threat to national security ever since. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and geoscientist Paul Bierman talk about climate research by the U.S. Military Forces.

New book traces 75-year history of U.S. military climate research

The U.S. military unearthed data about rising sea levels in the early 1950s — and has been closely watching this threat to national security ever since. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and geoscientist Paul Bierman talk about climate research by the U.S. Military Forces. 


MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and journalist Allison Prang talk about Minnesota’s efforts to speed up the clean-energy permitting process so the state can achieve its goals. 

Minnesota ‘red-tape experiment’ streamlines permitting process to achieve carbon-free grid

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and journalist Allison Prang talk about Minnesota’s efforts to speed up the clean-energy permitting process so the state can achieve its goals. 


MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks Nick Halter, Twin Cities reporter at Axios, about the many reasons ducks are staying in Minnesota all winter. 

Forget migration. Ducks are choosing to chill in Minnesota all winter long

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks Nick Halter, Twin Cities reporter at Axios, about the many reasons ducks are staying in Minnesota all winter. 


MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks with the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Walker Orenstein about Minnesota’s increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Increasing greenhouse gas emissions may put Minnesota climate goals out of reach

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks with the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Walker Orenstein about Minnesota’s increasing greenhouse gas emissions. 


Tapping into carbon capture technology, and its potential to help mitigate climate change.

Slowing climate change by ‘putting carbon back where it came from’

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks with Ben Grove, with the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force, about decarbonizing the atmosphere to address climate change. 








Meteorologist travels to Antarctica to witness ice loss

MPR News meteorologists Paul Huttner and Sven Sundgaard talk about Antarctica, and how rising temperature are changing the environment for wild on land and sea.  


Minnesota's warming climate is shifting how people recreate on lake ice.

Warmer winters mean Midwesterners are losing weeks of lake ice cover over the season. MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner talks with Kristoffer Tigue, from Inside Climate News, about what that means for recreation.


Minnesota’s warming climate is making winter fun more dangerous

Geothermal energy is gaining a strong foothold in Minnesota as a renewable and reliable source of power.

Could the future of renewable energy be beneath our feet? 

Geothermal energy is gaining a strong foothold in Minnesota as a renewable and reliable source of power.


President Donald Trump has officially begun his second term. One of his first moves was to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement — again. What will that mean for greenhouse gas emissions and climate solutions?Jonathan Foley is executive director of Project Drawdown.He said, “This is not game over. It’s game on. It means the rest of us have to step up and do a lot more.”Foley shared more insights about the road ahead with MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner.

'It's game on': Climate leader urges action after Trump pulls U.S. from Paris Agreement again

President Donald Trump has officially begun his second term. One of his first moves was to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement — again. 


Climate leader urges action after Trump pulls U.S. from Paris Agreement again

California wildfires. Florida hurricanes. Texas heat. Some residents of these states say climate disasters are driving them to move to northern parts of the United States — including Minnesota. 

Disasters in warm-weather states spur climate migration to Minnesota

California wildfires. Florida hurricanes. Texas heat. Some residents of these states say climate disasters are driving them to move to northern parts of the United States — including Minnesota. 


Climate Cast ®

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Updraft® is your source for Minnesota forecasts and insights from our expert meteorologists, Paul Huttner, Sven Sundgaard and Mandy Thalhuber.

MPR News brings you the latest weather outlook, across all of Minnesota, so you can be better prepared for your day.

Get in-depth Minnesota weather forecasts with Updraft® by MPR News. Stay updated with the latest from our meteorologists.

Our powerful spring snow storm is producing wintry conditions across northern and western Minnesota. 


Blizzard and winter storm conditions north; hefty snowfall totals coming in

Our sloppy spring storm will finally wind down across Minnesota. 


Spring slop storm winds down Wednesday night

Our wintry spring storm continues with rain south and snow north into Wednesday night. Quiet and dry weather sets in for a prolonged stretch after Wednesday night into next week. 


Snow continues Wednesday in northern Minnesota; rain south 

A strong April storm is dropping snow and rain across different parts of Minnesota. The highest accumulations will occur in the northern half of the state.


Winter storm warnings continue north; sloppy snow, rain in Twin Cities

A potent spring storm is brining winterlike conditions to much of Minnesota Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday. The heaviest snow will fall across central and northern Minnesota. 


Winter storm warnings north, sloppy rain-snow mix for Twin Cities

Snow and rain will continue to develop and expand east and northeast Tuesday. Heavy snow will fall north into Wednesday night. Quieter weather prevails behind it. 


Messy April storm brings snow and rain 

A potent storm system will push rain and snow into different parts of Minnesota Tuesday into Wednesday. 


Messy snow and rain event rolls into Minnesota Tuesday

Another sloppy spring snow and rain event is on the way for most of Minnesota Tuesday into Wednesday.


No April fooling: Another sloppy snow storm ahead Tuesday

Minnesota saw a steady parade of powerful weather systems passing through the region in March. Record warmth was recorded in both mid and late March, placing this month among the top 10 warmest Marches on record.


March recap: Multiple storm systems, above-average temperatures

Monday will be quiet with sunshine ahead of the next storm system. Rain and snow develops Tuesday into Wednesday with more snowfall likely for central and northern Minnesota. 


Quiet Monday before another wintry system moves in Tuesday 

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Stay informed on weather and climate news in Minnesota and beyond. Get the latest updates and expert insights from MPR News.


Our powerful spring snow storm is producing wintry conditions across northern and western Minnesota. 

Forecasting challenges amid cuts (Sundgaard-Wurzer)

Sven Sundgaard joined Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer to talk in detail about what at NOAA is being reduced and the implications of the cuts. 


Morning Edition

How do cuts at NOAA affect weather forecasting in Minnesota?

Prince said it best: “Sometimes it snows in April.”

Winter weather returns to Minnesota, warmer temperatures expected next week

NINA MOINI: So you heard it from Prince himself. 

[PRINCE, "SOMETIMES IT SNOWS IN APRIL"] Sometimes it snows in April 

NINA MOINI: That it does. Winter weather, we've all seen it. It's dragging into April. Several inches of snow have fallen in the Twin Cities, with parts of Central and Northern Minnesota getting hit hardest. Joining us now with the latest look at our forecast and snow totals is MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. Thanks for being here, as always, Paul. 

PAUL HUTTNER: Oh, my pleasure, Nina. Yeah, Prince was a wise man. I think he saw enough of Minnesota winters and springs to know that what we're getting today, it's never too late for a little snow, even as we move into April. 

NINA MOINI: It's not. It's really dreary, though, today. It's not the most fun. But it is normal. Give us the latest on this latest snowstorm. 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, technically, I'm calling this a slop storm because that's pretty much what it is across Minnesota. Nina, the weather map is a mess right now. There is snow falling through the northern half of Minnesota, all the way back into Southwest Minnesota, pretty heavy snow right now. And then south of that, into the Twin Cities, Southeast Minnesota, it is rain. In fact, we've got another batch of rain moving into the Twin Cities right now. So it'll kind of wash away some of that slop and see some big puddles out there today, I think. 

But up north, it continues to be snow. Those winter storm warnings continue, basically, for about the northwest half of the state. And that's after that little slush, snow burst we had last night, 2 in the Twin Cities, if we look at snowfall totals, 1 to 3 in the Twin Cities, 2.1 at the airport. We had slushy ruts out there. I was driving around last night. It was not pretty. And the heavier snow is falling to our north, where they're going to still get another 5 to 10 inches from Detroit Lakes, up through Bemidji, the Iron Range, the North Shore, all the way up to Ely and International Falls. 

So those winter storm warnings continue through tonight, periods of snow up to the north and west, northern half of Minnesota, another 4 to 8 inches there. For us, it's just rain, Nina, in the south. We might even hear a clap of thunder today, south of the Twin Cities. But we're above freezing. So that's the good news for the roads out there. They're mainly just wet, as we head through today. And interesting to note that another inch of liquid at least-- so I think our drought is pretty much history here across much of-- 

NINA MOINI: I was going to ask. 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, Central and Southern Minnesota. So this is really good news for that. And looking at the maps, which I do, about 10 days out, right now, no guarantees, but I don't see any more big rain or snow events like this one. So we might, might be done with the snow, especially in Southern Minnesota. 

NINA MOINI: Well, what about the rest of the state for drought? 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, I think-- so here are a couple of things. First of all, we're going to get that update in the morning. But the drought monitor cutoff is Tuesday morning, Nina. So this precip is going to miss this week's update. And the drought monitor is kind of a lagging indicator. I think we're pretty much done with drought in the Twin Cities, much of Southern Minnesota. There's a couple pockets of severe drought that probably will still remain in moderate drought. But overall, this train and parade of spring storms we've had has pretty much eliminated the drought across most of Minnesota. I think we'll find that out in next week's drought monitor update. 

NINA MOINI: I hope it's good news. So you said not a lot of precipitation in the immediate future. What are some of the signs of spring you're seeing? 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, our weather will start improving by baby steps this week. We'll trend sunnier Thursday, as we head right into the weekend, mainly 40s and 50s, as we head into the weekend, Nina. Next week starts a little cool. But boy, do we have a change late next week. By Thursday, Friday, and into that weekend of April 12 and 13, most of the models are saying 60s first for the Twin Cities, Southern Minnesota, Thursday and Friday, and then 70s, it looks like, that weekend of April 12 and 13, in fact, a couple of models cranking out 80 south of the Twin Cities. We're due for a big push of warm weather like that. And the weather maps are pretty confident that we'll see that late next week, so hang in there another week. 

NINA MOINI: Yeah, that sounds kind of nice. So I understand, too, you have an update for us on weather balloon launches and why they are important. What's going on there? 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, so NOAA has canceled some of these balloon launches in a really critical area west of Minnesota, Rapid City, Omaha, Nebraska, and then they've dropped one a day in several other sites in Kansas and Colorado and Wyoming. So that leaves a big hole for these weather balloons, which go up over 50,000 feet, give us data right through the atmosphere of temperature and pressure and winds. 

That is really critical in days like today, Nina, where we're trying to play with this rain-snow line and have the forecast models get it right. Just a degree or two of error can be the difference between a rain and a heavy snow burst, also, with severe weather, the same thing with those stability and outlooks that NOAA puts out. So we're watching that. We're wondering how good the models are. There's no way to tell for sure. It's kind of a weird situation to be in as a meteorologist after 40 years of advances in weather forecasting to now pull some of that critical data out of the maps. 

NINA MOINI: That's too bad, Paul. Want to let us know, or I want to make sure to check in on what you're doing for Climate Cast this week before I let you go. 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, these springs we've had, Nina, this weather whiplash, from snow, to 70 degrees, back to snow, it seems like we're having a trend of more of this in the spring. So we'll talk to Pete Boulay from the Minnesota State Climate Office and see if we're just imagining things. Or is there data to support this crazy spring weather we're having? 

NINA MOINI: All right, Paul, thanks so much. 

PAUL HUTTNER: My pleasure. Thanks, Nina. 

NINA MOINI: That's MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. 

Prince said it best: “Sometimes it snows in April.” 


Potentially deadly flash flooding, high-magnitude tornadoes and baseball-sized hail could hit parts of the Midwest and South on Wednesday.


Weather and Climate News

Forecasters warn of deadly floods and strong tornadoes in parts of the Midwest and South

Our wintry spring storm continues with rain south and snow north into Wednesday night. Quiet and dry weather sets in for a prolonged stretch after Wednesday night into next week. 

Snow continues north, rain south Wednesday

A strong April storm is dropping snow and rain across different parts of Minnesota. The highest accumulations will occur in the northern half of the state.

April has arrived with a blast of winter weather for Minnesota — and that’s causing some school districts across the state to cancel classes or move to online learning days for Wednesday.

April snowstorm prompts school closings, e-learning days for Wednesday

April has arrived with a blast of winter weather for Minnesota — with snow forecast to continue through Wednesday night across central and northern Minnesota.


April snowstorm leads to icy roads, power outages, school closings across Minnesota

 From the southwestern U.S. to Minnesota, Iowa and even parts of New Jersey, it was a dismal winter. Many communities marked record dryness between December and the end of February.


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Blizzard and winter storm conditions north; hefty snowfall totals coming in

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Blizzard and winter storm conditions north; hefty snowfall totals coming in

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Climate Cast®

New book traces 75-year history of U.S. military climate research

Minnesota ‘red-tape experiment’ streamlines permitting process to achieve carbon-free grid

Forget migration. Ducks are choosing to chill in Minnesota all winter long