Douglas: Smoky sunshine and 80s into next week

If it wasn’t for a tropical storm named Agnes in 1972, I might have a real job. It stalled over Pennsylvania, where I was born, flooding our home’s basement. In the blink of an eye, furniture and family heirlooms were under 10 feet of water. My brother and I hopped on floating couches to plug a gushing leak. My mother was traumatized, and I guess I was, too. Agnes sparked awe and curiosity, which led to my first radio weather job in high school.

Roughly once a decade, moisture from a decaying tropical system reaches Minnesota, and the European model brings a few showers from Francine into southern Minnesota on Saturday.

Otherwise, expect smoky sunshine and 80s into much of next week with little chance of a free lawn-watering. Warmth, without the junglelike humidity or raging thunderstorms. The only wild card is smoke. Fires burning out of control out west will keep our skies hazy.

Hurricane Francine is aimed at New Orleans. Nothing like Katrina, which claimed 1,392 lives in 2005, but still very disruptive.