Pretty Nice September Weather Ahead - Rain Possible Saturday Night

Record rain fell on Tuesday in Duluth, with 2.77" falling. The previous record was 2.51" back in 1876. The heaviest rain fell across northern Minnesota - particularly from the Brainerd area north and eastward, where over an inch of much-needed rainfall occurred. Farther south toward the metro, we didn't see a lot of rain. However, the 0.01" that fell at MSP on Tuesday was the first measurable rainfall since September 14th (0.25") - 21 straight days without measurable precipitation, tied for the 52nd longest stretch on record.

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There won't be much to complain about on Thursday here in the metro! We'll start the day off with cloud cover, but some clearing should occur into the afternoon. Morning temperatures start off in the mid-50s with highs around 70F. Winds will be out of the north at 5-10 mph.

Statewide, it'll be a nice early September day with highs in the 60s and 70s. Some hazy skies will remain in western and northern Minnesota due to the intrusion of wildfire smoke we saw late Tuesday into Wednesday.

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Friday: A quiet, sunny day is expected with light winds and temperatures warming back into the mid-70s.

Saturday: We'll see partly sunny skies, with the chance of some showers and storms moving in very late in the day into the overnight hours. Highs climb up to around 80F.

Sunday: A few showers could continue across the region, though at a much lower probability than what we will see Saturday Night. Partly sunny skies are otherwise expected with highs in the low 70s.

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We Need New Ways To Manage Water Extremes
By Paul Douglas

In the 1967 movie "The Graduate" Dustin Hoffman got some career advice. "Plastics." Yeah, that worked out well. Advice for young people interested in sustainability and keeping the wheels on the (electric) bus? "Water Management".

Dealing with too much water or too little water is big business in the 21st century. From "flash droughts" to super-floods, clean and reliable fresh water sources will become more valuable than oil.

The Twin Cities went 3 weeks with under .01" rain, the 52st longest stretch of consecutive dry days since 1872. Parts of northern and central Minnesota saw significant rain late Tuesday, but once again the MSP metro found a way to miss big puddles.

Today should be sunnier and milder, with highs near 80F Saturday, and a small chance of showers later in the day. Comfortable weather spills over into next week with daytime highs mostly in the 70s. Sweet relief.

We are watching "Lee", which may strengthen into a Category 5 hurricane and wobble close to the east coast late next week.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Partly sunny, pleasant. Wake up 56. High 71. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NE 7-12 mph.

FRIDAY: Plenty of sunshine, touch of smoke. Wake up 53. High 79. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SE 7-12 mph.

SATURDAY: Clouds increase, few showers late. Wake up 61. High 80. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind SW 5-10 mph.

SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy, probably dry. Wake up 58. High 76. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NE 10-15 mph.

MONDAY: Patchy clouds, stray shower. Wake up 56. High 72. Chance of precipitation 30%. Wind NE 10-20 mph.

TUESDAY: Mix of clouds and sun, comfortable. Wake up 53. High 70. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NE 7-12 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Lukewarm sun, low humidity. Wake up 52. High 71. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SE 5-10 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
September 7th

*Length Of Day: 12 hours, 57 minutes, and 11 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 3 minutes and 3 seconds

*When Do We Drop Below 12 Hours Of Sunlight? September 26th (11 hours, 58 minutes, 25 seconds)
*When Are Sunrises At/After 7:00 AM? September 23rd (7:01 AM)
*When Are Sunsets At/Before 7:00 PM? September 28th (6:59 PM)
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This Day in Weather History
September 7th

1990: Strong winds and hail up to 2 inches was reported in Swift, Douglas, Stevens, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Stearns, and Waseca Counties.

1986: A touch of winter is felt in northern MN, with lows of 20 degrees at Embarrass and 30 at Duluth.

1922: The fifth consecutive day of 90 degrees or above occurs in the Minneapolis area.

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On Thursday, a cold front moving east will bring the threat of storms from the Northeast to the Gulf Coast. Some scattered storms will also be possible back toward the Plains and the northern Rockies.

Some of the heaviest rain through the end of the week will fall in the Great Lakes, where at least 1-2" of rain could fall.

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Your weather app may be missing critical details. A group of emergency managers is trying to fix that.

More from the Star Tribune: "Emergency management leaders don't expect the federal government to build more large NEXRAD radars, as the system was a one-time acquisition. The NWS also hasn't finalized future plans for improving radar coverage, and the organization could be facing budget cuts. But companies such as Climavision offer smaller radar systems that can be placed on existing infrastructure. In October, Climavision plans to install an X-band radar system on a water tower in Wendell, a small city in Grant County, as part of a pilot project. It'll be the first X-band system in the state, Goode said. The company will cover the radar's installation, maintenance and operations, and its data will be available at no cost to support public safety efforts. Climavision also will sell radar data to businesses such as insurance, agriculture and media companies."

It's official. UN says the world just endured its hottest summer on record

More from CNBC: "The world just experienced its hottest three months on record by a substantial margin, according to the UN weather agency, prompting the UN chief to call for world leaders to take urgent climate action. The UN's World Meteorological Organization and European climate service Copernicus on Wednesday announced that the June to August season of 2023 was the warmest such period in records that began in 1940. The average temperature for those three months was 16.77 degrees Celsius (62.19 degrees Fahrenheit), which was 0.66 degrees Celsius above average for the period. The month of August was found to be the hottest on record by a large margin and the second hottest month after July 2023."

WHERE DANGEROUS HEAT IS SURGING

More from the Washington Post: "The world is experiencing a surge in extremely hot days that put human health at risk, with the threat concentrated in some of the places least prepared to cope, according to an analysis of climate data by The Washington Post and CarbonPlan, a nonprofit that develops publicly available climate data and analytics. By 2050, over 5 billion people — probably more than half the planet's population — will be exposed to at least a month of health-threatening extreme heat when outdoors in the sun, the analysis shows, up from 4 billion in 2030 and 2 billion at the turn of the century. The analysis calculated an approximate form of "wet-bulb globe temperature," a metric that combines temperature, humidity, sunlight and wind. Scientists consider it the gold standard for evaluating how heat harms the human body."

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

- D.J. Kayser