"Widespread rain is expected this evening through Saturday with rumbles of thunder possible this evening and overnight."

Here's the Twin Cities weather summary for April. Note that we're running nearly -6.5F below average, which is the 12th coldest April on record. We're about +0.25" of an inch above average in terms of precipitation, but nearly -2.0" below average in terms of snowfall.

Here's the weather outlook from AM Saturday to AM Monday. Another large and slow moving storm will slide through the Upper Midwest with areas of rain and thunder. This storm will bring soaking rains to the area with some 1" to 2" rainfall amounts possible.

Hey - Look at that! More and more lakes are going ice out in the southern part of the state. However, thanks to a chillier than average month of April so far, several lakes are going out a little later than average. Cedar Lake, Lake Nokomis and Medicine Lake in the metro are officially out. According to the MN DNR, Lake Minnetonka went ice out on April 15th, 2 days later than normal (April 13th). Look for more ice outs over the coming days and weeks. It won't be long now before the land of 10,000 unfrozen lakes returns!

See the interactive map HERE:

We're still several weeks away from ice out across parts of the state, but according to the MN DNR, here's a look at the average ice out dates for lakes across the state. Note that some lakes across the southern part of the state typically see ice out around the end of March. Lake Minnetonka typically doesn't see ice out until mid April. A few lakes in far northern & northeastern MN don't see ice out until late April or early May.

See more from the MN DNR HERE:

"April 25, 2022 - Spring leaf out continues to progress across the country. Our spring leaf anomaly compares the arrival of spring leaf out this year to a long-term average of 1991-2020. In the East, spring leaf out is patchy this year, arriving days to weeks late across much of the Southeast and upper Midwest, and arriving days to weeks early across the southern part of the Midwest, the Southern Appalachians, the mid-Atlantic, and the Northeast. Parts of Maine are over a week early. In western states, spring leaf out is also patchy, arriving a week late in some locations and over a month early in others. Parts of Montana and South Dakota are 2-3 weeks early. Spring bloom is also spreading north, arriving days to a week late in Texas and Florida and days to several weeks early in California. Spring bloom is over a week early in parts of Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. The mid-Atlantic is patchy, several days early in some locations and several days late in others."

See more from NPN HERE:

The weather outlook for Minneapolis on Saturday shows unsettled weather in place much of the day with waves of showers and storms.

The hourly temps for Minneapolis on Saturday shows temperature hovering in the 50s much of the day. Waves of showers and storms will be possible through the day as well. Southeasterly winds will be quite strong with gusts approaching 30mph to 35mph much of the day.

Temps around the region on Saturday will be cooler than average on Saturday with highs running nearly -5F to -15F below for the day.

The extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis into the early part of May shows temps still running well below average with readings running nearly -5F to -15F below average.

The extended weather outlook over the next 7 days shows chilly temps in place through the the early part of May. Rain chances will be possible through next week as well.

According to the ECMWF & GFS extended temperature outlook, temps will be quite chilly into the first full week of May. However, according to the GFS, we may see highs in the 80s by mid May.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows Cooler than average temps across across the northeastern and western US. The southern US will warm to above average levels.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8-14 Day precipitation outlook shows a better chance of active weather in the Northwestern US.

Might this be a good time to remind you that Minnesota springs are trending wetter over time? Or the drought is over for Minnesota and most of the Upper Midwest? Water levels have recovered in most lakes and soil moisture is in good shape for spring planting. Now we need a few drier weeks so farmers can get out into their fields.

Photographer Brian Hansel reports 17" ice on Saw bill Lake in the BWCA. It makes me wonder how many lakes up north may be ice-covered for the Fishing Opener this year?

A slow-moving storm drops 1-2" rain on much of Minnesota by Sunday evening. Welcome to a "Plan B Weekend"; perfect for indoor adventures. But you do have the freedom to walk in the rain.

Next week looks generally dry with cool 50s giving rise to 60s later in the week. I still see a run of 70s by the second week of May. NOAA's GFS model is showing 80s by mid-May, but I'm not celebrating just yet.

One thing seems certain: a dysfunctional spring will go from jackets to shorts in the blink of an eye. Hurry up May.

SATURDAY: Soaking rain & T-storms. Winds: E 15-30. High: 60.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Rain & possibly a thundershower. Winds: E 5-15. Low: 47.

SUNDAY: Cool, windy and showery. Winds: NW 10-20. High: 52.

MONDAY: Mostly cloudy and dry. Winds: NW 5-10. Wake-up: 42. High: 52.

TUESDAY: Cloudy, rain falls south of MSP. Winds: N 10-15. Wake-up: 39. High: 55.

WEDNESDAY: Sunny and pleasant. Winds: SE 5-10. Wake-up: 36. High: 60.

THURSDAY: Mix of clouds and sunshine. Winds: SE 7-12. Wake-up: 40. High: 65.

FRIDAY: Some sun, risk of a shower. Winds: E 7-12. Wake-up: 47. High: 64.

April 30th

2004: After a high temperature of 91 on the previous day in the Twin Cities, the mercury tumbles to 47 degrees by the morning. St. Cloud sheds 50 degrees over 12 hours.

1967: Tornadoes hit southern Minnesota. Some of the towns affected were Albert Lea, Waseca, Wells, and Owatonna.

April 30th

Average High: 65F (Record: 91F set in 1934. 1952)

Average Low: 44F (Record: 24F set in 1903)

Record Rainfall: 1.53" set in 1954

Record Snowfall: 3.1" set in 1984

April 30th

Sunrise: 6:03am

Sunset: 8:16pm

Hours of Daylight: ~14 hours & 13 minutes

Daylight GAINED since yesterday: ~ 2 minute & 45 seconds

Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 5 Hour & 27 Minutes

0.4 Days Since New Moon

See more from Space.com HERE:

The weather outlook on Saturday shows above average temps in the Southern US with strong to severe storms possible as well.

Here's the national weather outlook through the weekend shows active weather in place through the Central US. Areas of showers and thunderstorms, some of which will be strong to severe will move through.

According to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center, areas of heavier precipitation will be found across parts of the Central U. Meanwhile the Southwest will be completely dry.

Here's the ECMWF extended snowfall outlook through next week. Areas of heavy snow will continue across the Rockies and into Canada.

"A rare black moon will occur on April 30 and cause the first partial solar eclipse of 2022. Black moons are not an official astronomical term, but one common definition of them states they occur when a second new moon falls in a single calendar month. New moons happen when the moon's Earth-facing side is fully shrouded in shadow and is nearly invisible. This year's black moon is the only one for 2022. The black moon's partial solar eclipse will begin 90 minutes before sunset on April 30. The best place to see the phenomenon is Chile, where the black moon will block up to 54 percent of the sun. Observers farther north will see less of the sun covered, Forbes reports. The event will only be seen from parts of Antarctica, South America, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, according to People. Astronomy fans in North America can view the event on a livestream."

See more from Smithsonian HERE:

"In the face of a deepening drought and ongoing water shortages, southern Californians will soon experience the most severe water restrictions ever applied in the region. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted unanimously on Tuesday to implement a new framework that would limit water use for about 6 million southern Californians. As of June 1, dozens of cities and districts will need to limit residents' outdoor watering to once a week or reduce total water use below a certain target. Water providers must draft plans to police their customers and could face fines of up to $2,000 per acre-foot of water, about 325,850 gallons, in excess of monthly allocation limits. The need to save water is especially dire since California just experienced the driest January, February, and March on record—months when the state typically gets the most rain and snow in the year. "At this time, a third of our region, 6 million Southern Californians in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino counties, face a very real and immediate water stress challenge," Metropolitan Water District General Manager Adel Hagekhalil told Cal Matters. "Today these areas rely on extremely limited supplies from Northern California. And there is not enough supply available to meet the normal demands in these areas." Households will still be allowed to use 1,646 gallons per day, which is far above the average household usage of about 200 gallons daily."

See more from Popular Science HERE:

"An ambitious scaling-up of electric vehicle deployment in the U.S. would slash transportation sector emissions, but could paradoxically boost emissions from the electricity sector unless paired with more clean power, a new report warns. Why it matters: How national, state and local governments implement policies to increase EV adoption while balancing the transition toward renewable energy sources will help determine whether the U.S. can meet its climate goals. The report, from the ICF Climate Center and provided first to Axios, uses five increasingly aggressive decarbonization policy scenarios at the state and national levels to map out potential futures for on-road transportation and the electric power sector. Zoom in: It finds the current pace of EV adoption fails to put the U.S. on track to meet a net-zero transportation sector by 2050."

See more from Axios HERE: