Increasing Clouds Friday - Cooler With Potential Of Heavy Rain This Weekend

The latest Drought Monitor was released on Thursday, and despite heavier rains across portions of central Minnesota over the past week (through Tuesday morning), most drought categories once again saw an increase in coverage.

There was a mix of both improving and worsening drought across the state, leading to mostly small changes in the amount of Minnesota under various drought categories.

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Another warm day - but not as warm as Thursday - is expected on Friday in the Twin Cities. Morning temperatures start off in the upper 60s with highs up around 90F. Clouds will be on the increase throughout the day.

As we head into the afternoon hours on Friday, some scattered showers and storms are possible in southwestern Minnesota - mainly along and south of the Minnesota River. Highs climb into the 80s across much of the state on Friday, with some 60s and 70s in the Arrowhead and along the North Shore.

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Saturday: Low 80s are expected for highs with mainly cloudy conditions. We could see an isolated shower or storm in the metro, but a better daytime chance of rain will be in western Minnesota. More showers and storms, with heavy rain at times, are expected into the overnight hours in the metro.

Monday: Drier, sunnier weather moves back in with highs around average.

A few storms across southern Minnesota on Saturday (first image) and Sunday (second image) could be strong to severe, with hail and wind the main threats.

Central and southern Minnesota are likely to see the heaviest rain through the weekend. The potential exists for 1-3" of rain over the timeframe, with isolated higher totals.

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Significant, Soaking Rains Possible Sunday
By Paul Douglas

A winter outlook is more horoscope than science. We have enough trouble with the next few days (or few hours). A weather prediction 4-8 months out is bad science; a joke. Chaos theory reigns. El Nino should mean milder with less snow and more rain/ice, but the details? You may as well try and predict the S&P 500.

Expect a dry sky and upper 80s today; the most lake-worthy day in sight. We salvage an OK Saturday, but a stray T-storm may pop up by afternoon.

A very slow-moving storm tracking from Sioux Falls to La Crosse may squeeze out 1-2" rain on many fields, lawns and gardens Saturday night into Sunday night. This could be one of the most widespread rains in a dry and dusty summer. Let it rain. Please.

Next week brings upper 70s and low 80s with a whiff of wildfire smoke. Beyond that the crystal ball gets very murky.

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FRIDAY: Warm sunshine. Wake up 69. High 89. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind E8-13 mph.

SATURDAY: Some sun, PM T-storm. Wake up 68. High 85. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind SE 10-20 mph.

SUNDAY: Heavy showers, T-storms. 1-2" rain? Wake up 67. High 76. Chance of precipitation 100%. Wind SE 10-20 mph.

MONDAY: Some sun, breezy and comfortable. Wake up 63. High 81. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

TUESDAY: Sunnier and warmer. Wake up 62. High 84. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 8-13 mph.

THURSDAY: Mix of clouds and sun. Wake up 64. High 82. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NW 5-10 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
August 4th

*Length Of Day: 14 hours, 34 minutes, and 0 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 28 seconds

*When Do We Drop Below 14 Hours Of Sunlight? August 17th (13 hours, 59 minutes, 17 seconds)
*When Are Sunrises After 6:30 AM? August 28th (6:30 AM)
*When Are Sunsets At/Before 8:30 PM? August 8th (8:30 PM)
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1898: Storms dump 4 and a half inches of rain on Montevideo.

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Oppressive heat continues on Friday across the desert Southwest and the Southern Plains. Both areas will see highs of at least 100F, and heat index values in the Southern Plains could top 110F. Scattered showers and storms are possible from the Northern Rockies across the Plains and to the East Coast. The highest chance of severe weather will be in the Northeast.

Very heavy pockets of rain will be possible across the Northern Plains and in the mid-Mississippi Valley to the Southeast through the first half of the weekend, with the potential of 3"+ falling. These heavy rain amounts could lead to flash flooding.

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More from Bloomberg: "The Scottsbluff solar farm in western Nebraska was built to withstand most hailstones. But the icy pellets that rained down in late June were bigger than baseballs. The hail — part of a larger pattern of severe storms, heat and other extreme weather fueled by climate change — smashed the bulk of Scottsbluff's glass panels. Designed to power more than 650 local homes, the facility remains out of commission over a month later. Its owner, private developer Arevon Energy Inc., is still tallying the cost. Solar plants and wind farms are crucial weapons in the battle against greenhouse gas emissions. So it's a cruel irony that their effectiveness is often hobbled by damage from storms, floods, wildfires and other disasters amplified by global warming. That's making them harder to insure. Property insurance premiums for US solar facilities have soared as much as 50% over the past year, threatening to slow their rollout and derail global efforts to cut carbon emissions."

Scientists dig into wildfire predictions, long-term impacts

More from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory: "Wildfires are an ancient force shaping the environment, but they have grown in frequency, range and intensity in response to a changing climate. At the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists are working on several fronts to better understand and predict these events and what they mean for the carbon cycle and biodiversity. Two months into the 2023 peak summer fire season from June through August, Canadian wildfires had burned more than 25 million acres, disrupted the lives of millions and spread beyond the traditional confines of western Canada east to Nova Scotia. The phenomenon attracted renewed attention as smoke drifted to heavily populated regions, turning the New York City skyline orange and drifting across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe by late June."

Humanity will use 1.7 Earths' worth of resources this year

More from electrek: "The globe marked Earth Overshoot Day on August 2, calculated as the day when humanity has used up more than the total amount of resources made available by the Earth over the course of the year. And the day has been getting earlier and earlier every year. Earth Overshoot Day is a calculation that defines the total amount of ecological services available from natural processes, then compares that to how quickly humanity uses up those processes. These services include clean air and water, forest products, fertile soil, pollination, fisheries, land use, and so on. But humanity, since the 1970s, has not been content simply to use up the services available to us, but rather to overuse them – thus creating long-term effects that result in fewer of the same resources being available in the future, compounding these problems."

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- D.J. Kayser