Very November-Like Friday Ahead - Shots At 60F Next Week

We once again saw some slight improvements in the drought update for the state this week, with a few percentage point changes in the Abnormally Dry and Severe Drought categories. The Extreme Drought category - covering parts of far southeastern Minnesota - stayed the same.

_______________________________________________

As we slide into the last day of the work week, it's certainly going to feel a touch like November out there. November is typically the cloudiest month of the year for the metro, and we'll see plenty of gray skies out there (though there should be a few peeks of sun - especially early and late). Meanwhile, temperatures only rise from the low 30s in the morning to around 40F in the afternoon - about 5F degrees below average.

Most of the state will likely deal with mainly cloudy skies on Friday - though some areas of sunnier skies are expected in southwestern Minnesota and along the North Shore. Highs range from the 30s to low 40s.

_______________________________________________

Saturday: Breezy weather is expected for Veterans Day, as east-southeast winds increase through the day and could gust to 30 mph by the evening hours. Mostly cloudy skies are expected with highs in the mid-40s - though this is the start of a warm-up into next week.

Sunday: Skies will start off cloudy, but by the midday hours there should be a lot more blue skies and sunshine out there. Windy conditions remain, with southerly winds becoming more southwest, gusting up to 25 mph at times. Highs climb to the low 50s.

Monday: We'll see another step up in highs into the work week with an expected high in the mid-50s and plenty of sunshine. Winds remain a bit breezy - south of the west sustained to 15 mph.

_______________________________________________

Highs will be in at least the 50s from Sunday through next Friday here in the metro - and from Tuesday through Thursday, we could see the thermometer approach 60F. On average, we see three days in November with a high of 60F or higher in the Twin Cities. Models show temperatures cooling back into the 40s as we head into next weekend and Thanksgiving week (that's right - Thanksgiving is only two weeks away!).

_______________________________________________

Image: Most probable track/position of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Photo credit: Hultquist et al., 2006. Image via NWS Marquette explainer.

Friday marks the 48th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald north of Whitefish Point, Michigan on Lake Superior. NWS Marquette has an explainer on the storm that sunk the storm, as well as a look at past major fall storms.

_______________________________________________

An Welcome Warm Front Arrives Next Week
By Paul Douglas

Keep your expectations low and maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised? That's how I feel about winter in Minnesota. Weathering 25-below wind chills was easier when I was in my 20s.

November is the cloudiest month of the year with an average of nearly 10" of snow at MSP. We won't be tracking any flakes anytime soon, in fact a full-frontal warm front is still shaping up for next week; relatively mild, Pacific air that would feel right at home in early October.

Weather models show a streak of 5-6 days of 50s. A few days the mercury may hit or even top 60. Almost 20 degrees above average. Sign me up please. One more chance for a long bike ride, hike or tee time? Go for it.

Winds ease a bit today, the chilliest day in sight. Rain showers are likely Saturday night with more sunshine and 50s returning Sunday. Confidence levels are fairly high that every day next week will be in the 50s, with widespread 60s south and west of the Twin Cities.

Dear Diary: the weather may actually EXCEED my expectations. A.O.K.

_______________________________________________

Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

FRIDAY: Some sun, chilly. Wake up 32. High 39. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

SATURDAY: Clouds increase. Nighttime shower. Wake up 31. High 45. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind SE 10-20 mph.

SUNDAY: Partly sunny and milder. Wake up 38. High 56. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 8-13 mph.

MONDAY: Plenty of sunshine. Wake up 34. High 55. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 5-10 mph.

TUESDAY: Mild sunshine, breezy. Wake up 44. High 60. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind S 10-20 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Touch of September. Soak it up. Wake up 46. High 60. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SW 10-20 mph.

THURSDAY: Too nice to rake leaves. Mild sun. Wake up 48. High 61. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 10-20 mph.

_______________________________________________

Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
November 10th

*Length Of Day: 9 hours, 46 minutes, and 7 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 33 seconds

*When Do We Drop Below 9 Hours Of Sunlight? December 3rd (8 hours, 59 minutes, 24 seconds)
*When Is Sunrise At/After 7:30 AM? December 1st (7:30 AM)
*What Is The Earliest Sunset? December 8th-14th (4:31 PM)
_______________________________________________

This Day in Weather History
November 10th

1999: Late season hail falls in Eden Prairie. Pea size hail (0.25 inch. in diameter) up to one foot deep collected near storm drains near Hennepin Technical College and Hwy 212. Pea size hail about 4 inches deep was also reported on grass near Hwy 5 and Mitchell Rd. The hail and torrential rains forced drivers off the road in Bloomington.

1998: A potent storm nicknamed a 'land hurricane' sets a new all-time record low pressure for Minnesota around noon at Albert Lea and Austin as it passes overhead. The automated weather observing equipment at both airports measured a barometric pressure of 28.43 inches, which broke the previous record of 28.55 inches set on 11 January 1975 in Duluth. The new record for the Twin Cities was set with a reading of 28.55 inches. The previous record was 28.77 inches, set on April 13th of 1964. 10 inches of snow fell at Madison, MN and St. Cloud State University had a wind gust to 64 mph.

1975: The Edmund Fitzgerald sinks off Whitefish Bay, causing 29 fatalities.

1913: A severe windstorm occurs on Lake Superior. Three ships were lost. Winds were clocked at 62 mph at Duluth.

_______________________________________________

On Friday, a frontal boundary and several areas of low pressure will be in place from the Southern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic, bringing showers and thunderstorms (with some snow mixing in in the Appalachians and New Mexico). Mixed precipitation will be possible across the Great Lakes. We'll also track rain and snow in the Northwestern U.S.

Heavy rain will impact southern and southeastern Texas through Saturday, with some areas receiving at least 3-5" of rainfall from Houston to Brownsville.

The heaviest snow through the first half of the weekend will be in the Washington Cascades, where several feet of snow is expected to accumulate.

_______________________________________________

Half of US Is at Risk of Losing Power During Extreme Cold

More from Bloomberg: "Power grids that supply more than half of the US population may run short of electricity during an extended cold snap or severe storm over the coming winter, according to industry regulators. Regional system operators in a vast swath of the country stretching from Texas to New England are "at risk of insufficient electricity supplies during peak winter conditions," the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said Wednesday in its winter reliability assessment, which also showed Quebec and Saskatchewan facing the threat of power shortfalls. The outlook is even more dire than last year's report, which said a quarter of Americans were at risk of cold-weather power emergencies. It includes for the first time some of the most densely populated areas on the East Coast, a region that relies heavily on natural gas as it transitions to renewable energy. Gas generators there widely failed during a brief but fierce winter storm last December because they broke down or couldn't get fuel."

The Historic Claims That Put a Few California Farming Families First in Line for Colorado River Water

More from ProPublica: "Craig Elmore's family history is the stuff of Westerns. His grandfather, John Elmore, a poor son of a Missouri preacher, arrived in California's Imperial Valley in 1908 and dug ditches to deliver water to homesteaders. Thanks to his marriage to a citrus magnate's daughter, reputed good fortune as a gambler and business acumen, he amassed the Elmore Desert Ranch, part of roughly 12,000 acres that two branches of the family still farm. All that land in the blazing-hot southeastern corner of California came with a huge bonanza: water from the Colorado River. In 2022, the present-day Elmores consumed an estimated 22.5 billion gallons, according to a Desert Sun and ProPublica analysis of satellite data combined with business and agricultural records. That's almost as much as the entire city of Scottsdale, Arizona, is allotted."

Protests against copper mine deal turn deadly in Panama

More from CNN: "Anti-mining protests that have roiled Panama for the last two weeks turned deadly on Tuesday when a man allegedly shot and killed two demonstrators, according to police. A chilling video posted by bystanders on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed a disheveled elderly man apparently frustrated with the logjam trying to force the protestors to remove a barrier blocking the Pan American highway about 50 miles south of the capital, before pulling out a pistol and opening fire. Panama's National Police later said they arrested the suspected gunman at the scene of the shooting. The unusual scene of violence is the latest flashpoint in some of the largest protests to hit the Central American nation since Panamanians flooded the streets en masse to demonstrate against the dictatorship of Manuel Noriega in the 1980s."

_______________________________________________

Follow me on:

Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

- D.J. Kayser