Mainly Dry MEA Extended Weekend - Mostly 50s, But 60s On Friday

Many areas of the state are either at or past peak color according to the latest update from the Minnesota DNR Fall Color Finder, with 50-75% color from the metro and along the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota. Wild River State Park (75-100% color) noted on Wednesday that, "For this year, this is the peak of fall color at the park. Wild River typically has an earlier maple peak, and a later peak for oaks. The maples are colorful but beginning to lose leaves, and the oaks are assuming their more muted tones. Some groves of birch and aspen add yellow to the landscape."

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A mainly cloudy but quiet Thursday is expected here in the Twin Cities. A touch of clearing skies will be possible toward sunset. Morning temperatures start off right around 50F with highs only climbing to the upper 50s.

Skies will start to clear out in western Minnesota during the afternoon hours on Thursday, slowly working east through the evening hours. Otherwise, a few scattered showers will be possible during the day in northern Minnesota. A few 60s will be possible in western Minnesota, with the rest of the state seeing highs in the 50s.

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Friday: A mix of clouds and sun is expected Friday in the metro with highs climbing into the mid-60s. Winds will be on the increase throughout the day, gusting to 20 mph late in the afternoon and to 30 mph overnight. A few showers will be possible mainly in the Arrowhead later Friday into Friday Night - likely bringing only up to a tenth of an inch.

Saturday: Behind that system that brings the Arrowhead some showers Friday/Friday Night, we'll see cooler air move in for Saturday. Highs will be in the upper 50s with a mix of sun and clouds to mainly sunny skies. Winds will still be strong - out of the northwest gusting to 25 mph.

Sunday: Partly sunny skies are expected with highs in the mid-50s. Conditions won't be as windy.

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Warming Aloft Leading To More Bumpy Flights
By Paul Douglas

"Welcome aboard! First Class, Comfort or Discomfort? Would you like coffee, tea, or Dramamine?" The imaginary conversation I'd love to hear boarding my next flight.

Yesterday I flew home from visiting family on the east coast. It was a white-knuckle flight, the rough equivalent of a police chase through a pothole-infested construction zone. In recent years I've noticed more turbulence, and I'm not alone.

The atmosphere is warming unevenly, and scientists say this increases the potential for clear air turbulence and wind shear, sudden changes in wind speed and/or direction, which can make for a nauseating flight. Another symptom of a warming planet.

We dry out today but residual cloud cover lingers with highs in the 50s. Expect 60s on Friday before a stiff wind drops highs back into the 50s this weekend with a mottled, cream of mushroom soup sky.

I see a much wetter pattern next week with showers on Tuesday, maybe heavier rain next Wednesday and Thursday as highs flirt with 60 each day. Good news.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Mostly cloudy, breezy. Wake up 49. High 60. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

FRIDAY: Partly sunny and lukewarm. Wake up 44. High 65. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind W 8-13 mph.

SATURDAY: More clouds than sun, windy. Wake up 49. High 57. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 15-30 mph.

SUNDAY: Peeks of sun, less wind. Wake up 43. High 58. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind S 5-10 mph.

MONDAY: Partly sunny and pleasant. Wake up 47. High 64. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 10-20 mph.

TUESDAY: Good chance of showers. Wake up 49. High 59. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind. SW 10-20 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Steadier, heavier rain possible. Wake up 50. High 55. Chance of precipitation 80%. Wind NE 15-25 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
October 19th

*Length Of Day: 10 hours, 47 minutes, and 48 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 59 seconds

*When Do We Drop Below 10 Hours Of Sunlight? November 5th (9 hours, 59 minutes, 11 seconds)
*Latest Sunrise Before We "Fall Back": November 4th (7:55 AM)
*Earliest Sunset Before We "Fall Back": November 4th (5:57 PM)
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This Day in Weather History
October 19th

2000: The warmest October 19th in Minnesota history occurs for many towns. Many cities had highs in the 80s, with the Twin Cities hitting 84. Appleton in Swift County reported 90 degrees.

1972: A cold snap moves through Minnesota, with lows of 1 above in Tower and 9 in St. Peter and Luverne.

1916: Redwood Falls receives a record-setting 7 inches of snow.

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A system moving through the Great Lakes will bring showers and storms from there to the Gulf Coast on Thursday. A trough will also bring storms across portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern Atlantic coasts. A system moving into British Columbia could bring a few showers to far northwestern Washington, but most of the rain will stay north of the Canadian border.

Rain through the end of the week will mainly be across the eastern half of the nation, with the potential of an inch or two for some locations.

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Major U.S. science group lays out a path to smooth the energy transition

More from NPR: "It's no big mystery: to slow down human-driven climate change, the U.S. and other countries need to cut carbon emissions fast and thoroughly. The Biden administration has set the goal of hitting 'net zero' carbon emissions by 2050. That means bringing most fossil fuel burning to a near halt by then. Major climate-focused laws passed in 2021 and 2022, like the Inflation Reduction Act, have put the country on a solid theoretical pathway toward hitting that goal, says a new report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)–but, it warns, the efforts are still nascent and fragile. The two dozen engineers, scientists, medical specialists, and policy experts who authored the report developed a series of recommendations for how to take that theoretical pathway into concrete actions."

The case against the US government's big ​'blue hydrogen' bet

More from Canary Media: "Can a ​"clean hydrogen hub" spend hundreds of millions of dollars turning fossil gas into hydrogen and still be considered clean? That's the question that environmental groups and community activists are asking about the $7 billion in federal funding set to flow to hydrogen hub projects across the country. The hubs are meant to kick-start U.S. production of low- and zero-carbon hydrogen, an alternative fuel that could replace planet-warming fossil fuels in industries from heavy transportation to steelmaking. Of the seven public-private consortiums selected to compete for this funding by the Biden administration on Friday, five plan significant investments in ​"blue hydrogen," the practice of making hydrogen from fossil gas but capturing and storing the carbon emissions from the process. Today, almost all of the roughly 10 million metric tons of hydrogen produced in the U.S. per year is so-called ​"gray hydrogen," which is made with fossil gas and no carbon capture, and used for refining as well as fertilizer and other chemicals production."

World may have crossed solar power 'tipping point'

More from the University of Exeter: "The world may have crossed a "tipping point" that will inevitably make solar power our main source of energy, new research suggests. The study, based on a data-driven model of technology and economics, finds that solar PV (photovoltaics) is likely to become the dominant power source before 2050 – even without support from more ambitious climate policies. However, it warns four "barriers" could hamper this: creation of stable power grids, financing solar in developing economies, capacity of supply chains, and political resistance from regions that lose jobs. The researchers say policies resolving these barriers may be more effective than price instruments such as carbon taxes in accelerating the clean energy transition."

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- D.J. Kayser