Sunny And Warm For 'May The Fourth'

A spectacular "May The Fourth" is expected as we head into Thursday here in the metro. Morning temperatures will start out around 50F with highs in the mid-70s - about 10F degrees above average. Mainly sunny skies are expected throughout the day. Winds remain lighter than we saw early in the week, out of the southwest at 5-10 mph.

An isolated shower can't be ruled out in the Arrowhead on Thursday, with an isolated storm possible during the afternoon hours in far southwestern Minnesota. Otherwise, most areas will see mainly sunny skies. Highs will remain stuck in the 40s and 50s in the Arrowhead and along the North Shore, with 70s expected in central and southern Minnesota.

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3-Hour Precipitation Loop From 7 AM Friday to 7 AM Monday.

Enjoy the warm, sunny weather on Thursday, as precipitation chances will, unfortunately, increase late this week into the weekend. Rain chances on Friday will be isolated and mainly concentrated across southern Minnesota in the afternoon/overnight hours. However, better chances of showers - even some thunderstorms - will slide in Saturday into early Sunday. Somewhat of a break in the action is possible Sunday with more scattered showers and storms before another system moves in late Sunday into Monday with better rain chances.

Total Rain Expected Through 7 AM Monday

The heaviest rain expected through the weekend is across southern Minnesota, where some 1" tallies will be possible.

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6-Hour Precipitation Loop From 7 AM Monday to 7 AM Saturday.

Multiple rain chances will continue to be in the forecast as we head through next week across the state - but we'll wait to pin down the exact time frames until we get closer. Just know that there will certainly be rainy/stormy periods next week as the pattern remains active.

Total Rain Through 1 PM Wednesday

Through the middle of next week, some areas of southern Minnesota could see at least 1.5" of rainfall. Of course, that won't be the end of the rain, with more expected later in the week - but it does certainly look like it'll be a wet first half of May.

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Storybook Thursday - Wet Pattern Emerging
By Paul Douglas

There's no weather out there. Zilch. Nada. Nope. No clouds. No humidity. No bugs. Well, a few bugs, but we're still in the first inning of an extra-inning ballgame.

This is how I imagine being a meteorologist in San Diego must be: tanning index, surf report. When is high tide, Paul? I wish I knew.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. Like everyone else, I'm turning the page on winter. No more snowfall predictions on my laptop browser tabs. Good riddance. Snowfall stats? I'm done with that, too. Today will be the day you were daydreaming about back in February (and last weekend, come to think of it). Blue sky and 72-75F. I feel a nasty spring fever cough coming on.

70s, maybe 80F next week? I must be hallucinating.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Lukewarm sunshine. Wake up 48. High 75. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 7-12 mph.

FRIDAY: Some sun, cooler. Nighttime showers. Wake up 47. High 64. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind NE 10-15 mph.

SUNDAY: Partly sunny, nighttime T-storms. Wake up 55. High 71. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind S 8-13 mph.

MONDAY: Unsettled, few stray showers. Wake up 56. High 69. Chance of precipitation 40%. Wind SE 5-10 mph.

TUESDAY: Sunny spells, late thunder. Wake up 51. High 70. Chance of precipitation 30%. Wind E 5-10 mph.

WEDNESDAY: More humid, few T-storms around. Wake up 54. High 74. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind SE 7-12 mph.

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*Length Of Day: 14 hours, 23 minutes, and 46 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 39 seconds

*When do we see 15 Hours of Daylight?: May 20th (15 hours, 1 minute, 45 seconds)
*Earliest Sunrises Of The Year: June 13th-17th (5:25 AM)
*When Is The Sunset At/After 8:30 PM? May 11th (8:30 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
May 4th

1926: Morris goes from winter to summer temperatures in one day. The morning low was 32, followed by a high of 89.

Shower and storm chances will exist for "May the Fourth" from the western to the central United States, with some mixed precipitation and snow in parts of the western U.S. Meanwhile, a system off the East Coast will bring rain and snow chances to the Northeast. A few record highs will be possible in the Northwest.

A few inches of rain will be possible through the end of the week in the central United States and parts of the West Coast. Only a few inches of snow will accumulate in western mountain ranges and parts of the Appalachians.

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Finland Drained Its Peatlands. He's Helping Bring Them Back

More from Yale Environment 360: "Until a century ago, almost a third of Finland was covered in pristine peatlands, which comprise one of the Earth's largest and most important carbon sinks. Since then, however, half of Finnish peatlands have been strip-mined for fuel or drained to make room for forest plantations. But Tero Mustonen is turning the tide. After campaigning to restore a polluting peat mine in his village near the Russian border, he has been masterminding the rewilding of about 80 areas of peat across the country. Last week, Mustonen, 46, won a Goldman Environmental Prize for his work through the NGO he founded, the Snowchange Cooperative, which has taken on a global agenda for ecological and native cultural restoration from Alaska and northern Russian to Polynesia and New Zealand."

More from Scientific American: "A Patagonian cypress known as Lañilawal or Alerce Milenario may be the oldest tree on Earth. One researcher estimates it sprouted more than 5,000 years ago, well before the Great Pyramid of Giza was even built. The age estimate hasn't been verified yet, and other scientists are skeptical it will be. Regardless of this designation, its life in Chile's Alerce Costero National Park could end without greater protection, says Jonathan Barichivich, a research professor at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France. Barichivich's grandfather, Aníbal Henríquez, who would become the first park warden for Alerce Costero, discovered Lañilawal in the 1970s. "Even though it's a protected area, [the tree] is not necessarily protected," says Barichivich, who is Indigenous Chilean. Lañilawal—named for the word describing its location in the Indigenous Mapudungun language —is under stress from tourism and a warming, drying climate pattern, Barichivich says. (Alerce means "larch" in Spanish.)"

In Minnesota, electricians are plugging into a new niche installing EV chargers

More from Energy News Network: "A small but growing number of Minnesota electricians are finding steady work installing residential electric vehicle chargers. Minnesota has around 35,000 electric vehicles on the road today, but that number is expected to rapidly grow in the coming years as more models become available. The state is using federal funds to help build out a public charging network along major highways, but even so, research suggests most drivers are likely to mostly charge at home. Some will simply have to plug into an existing outlet in their garage, but many will need electrical upgrades, especially those with older homes or those who want to take advantage of faster charging times. Participating in certain utility programs may also require the installation of new equipment. That's creating an opportunity for electricians like Adam Wortman of St. Paul, who installed an electric vehicle charger at the home of a clean energy advocate four years ago and has since retooled his business to focus almost solely on similar projects."

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- D.J. Kayser