Some Western MN Rain Thursday - Next Chance In The Metro Friday Night & Saturday

A quiet day of weather is expected Thursday here in the Twin Cities, with morning lows starting off in the low 60s and highs climbing up to around 80F. Partly cloudy skies are expected throughout the day.

We'll be tracking the potential of a few showers and even a crack of thunder or two across western Minnesota as we head through Wednesday night into Thursday morning which should fade away by midday hours. Otherwise, a mix of sun and clouds are expected across the state Thursday with highs ranging from the 60s along the North Shore to the low 80s in southern Minnesota.

Heavy rain will be possible from those showers and thunderstorms in western Minnesota Wednesday night into Thursday, with the potential of over half an inch of rain for some locations (especially if you end up under a slow-moving downpour).

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As a cold front slowly sags south across the state Friday into Saturday, we will be watching some areas of at least scattered showers and thunderstorms. The better odds in the metro of these occurring look to be Friday Night and Saturday. Highs climb to the low/mid-80s on Friday before stepping back with that cold front passage to around 80F on Saturday. Sunday looks sunny and the nicest day of the weekend with highs in the mid-70s.

Some areas across southern Minnesota from Friday into Saturday could see a quarter to a third of an inch of rain.

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It's been a very dry stretch of recent days at MSP Airport - your mileage may vary, of course, if you have ended up under some of the heavier downpours over the past week or so. At the airport, though, only 0.20" of rain has fallen since May 15th, making it the second driest May 15 to June 6 on record.

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Smoke Plumes But Few Severe Storms
By Paul Douglas

Much of the world lives with pervasive, almost daily air pollution. Minnesota enjoys fresh, clean air the vast majority of the time. But a rash of early wildfires upwind over Canada has fouled the air across much of the nation. In recent days some of the worst air pollution on the planet could be found across New England and the Mid Atlantic states.

Where are the severe thunderstorms so prevalent in June, peak season for hail and high water? According to NOAA and Praedictix meteorologist DJ Kayser, Minnesota has experienced only 38 severe storm warnings so far in 2023, the fewest since 2009. Last year we had endured 350 warnings as of June 7! Only 4 tornado warnings (79 last year). Now we're tracking smoke plumes instead of severe storms. What a crazy pattern.

Showers west of MSP taper later today; the next chance of welcome T-showers coming Saturday. Sunday should be the sunnier, windier day of the weekend.

Enjoy this cooler front. Models bring 80s back into town next week. A no smoking zone? We'll see.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: AM showers west of MSP. Wake up 60. High 79. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind SE 7-12 mph.

FRIDAY: Warm sunshine, pleasant. Wake up 61. High 83. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 7-12 mph.

SATURDAY: Clouds increase, passing T-storm. Wake up 64. High 80. Chance of precipitation 40%. Wind NE 10-20 mph.

SUNDAY: Comfortable sunshine, quite windy. Wake up 59. High 75. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NE 15-25 mph.

MONDAY: Mix of clouds and sunshine. Wake up 57. High 79. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind N 10-20 mph.

TUESDAY: Warm sunshine. Wake up 60. High 85. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 8-13 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Hazy blue sky, risk of sunburn. Wake up 64. High 87. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NE 7-12 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
June 8th

*Length Of Day: 15 hours, 30 minutes, and 46 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 58 seconds

*Most Sunlight In A Day: June 21st (15 hours, 36 minutes, 51 seconds)
*Earliest Sunrises Of The Year: June 13th-17th (5:25 AM)
*Earliest Sunsets Of The Year: June 21st-July 2nd (9:03 PM)
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This Day in Weather History
June 8th

1972: 8 inches of rain falls in 7 hours at Madelia Township in Wantonwan County.

1893: Violent winds occur at Maple Plain from 1:30 to 2:15pm. A large frame house was moved 8 feet from its foundation. Many barns and haysheds blown over by the wind. One barn was blown across Dutch Lake.

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Scattered showers and storms will be possible on Thursday from the Northwest to the Upper Midwest southward through the Plains and to the Southeast. Some of this will be due to a frontal boundary in place. An area of low pressure near the Northeast will lead to a few showers but also help continue to usher Canadian wildfire smoke into the region with poor air quality expected.

Another day of at least unhealthy air quality is expected across the Eastern United States on Thursday with the smoke from wildfires in Quebec being dragged south and east.

Some of the heaviest rain chances through Friday will be in the Northwestern United States as well as southern Florida. In both areas, rainfall amounts of 2"+ will be possible for some.

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This Is Already One of the Worst Wildfire Pollution Events in U.S. History

More from HeatMap: "Today — Wednesday, June 7 — is virtually guaranteed to be among the worst two days for wildfire smoke in American history, and possibly the worst day ever, a new and rapid analysis conducted by Stanford researchers suggests.The research found that Tuesday was the third-worst day in American history for exposure to wildfire smoke on a population-weighted basis. Given that conditions have been worse on Wednesday than Tuesday, today is all but certain to rank even higher on the list, the researchers said. Not since California's conflagrations in September 2020 — when the Bay Area clouded with soot and ash, and the sky over San Francisco turned flame-orange — have so many Americans been exposed to so much toxic wildfire smoke."

A shocking number of birds are in trouble

More from ArsTechnica: "Just about anywhere you look, there are birds. Penguins live in Antarctica, ptarmigan in the Arctic Circle. Rüppell's vultures soar higher than Mt. Everest. Emperor penguins dive deeper than 1,800 feet. There are birds on mountains, birds in cities, birds in deserts, birds in oceans, birds on farm fields, and birds in parking lots. Given their ubiquity—and the enjoyment many people get from seeing and cataloging them—birds offer something that sets them apart from other creatures: an abundance of data. Birds are active year-round, they come in many shapes and colors, and they are relatively simple to identify and appealing to observe. Every year around the world, amateur birdwatchers record millions of sightings in databases that are available for analysis."

Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment

More from ProPublica: "Climate change is remapping where humans can exist on the planet. As optimum conditions shift away from the equator and toward the poles, more than 600 million people have already been stranded outside of a crucial environmental niche that scientists say best supports life. By late this century, according to a study published last month in the journal Nature Sustainability, 3 to 6 billion people, or between a third and a half of humanity, could be trapped outside of that zone, facing extreme heat, food scarcity and higher death rates, unless emissions are sharply curtailed or mass migration is accommodated. The research, which adds novel detail about who will be most affected and where, suggests that climate-driven migration could easily eclipse even the largest estimates as enormous segments of the earth's population seek safe havens. It also makes a moral case for immediate and aggressive policies to prevent such a change from occurring, in part by showing how unequal the distribution of pain will be and how great the improvements could be with even small achievements in slowing the pace of warming."

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

- D.J. Kayser