2021 Ice Out Dates So Far
Thanks to recent rains and warmer temps, several lakes across the southern half of the state have gone ice free including a few in the Twin Cities.
Average Ice Out Dates Across the State
Here's a look at the average ice out dates across the state. The orange markers across the southern part of the state indicate average ice out dates typically around the last week of March. We typically see average ice out across parts of central Minnesota and around the Twin Cities during the first couple of weeks of April. Folks across the northern third of the state typically see ice out closer to the start of May.
See more from the MN DNR HERE:
First 70F of 2021 on Monday?
Weather conditions on Monday look very warm. In fact, we may see our first 70F high temp of the year.
Somewhat Soggy Saturday
Here's the weather outlook from AM Friday to AM Monday, which shows our next storm system moving through late Friday and into Saturday. It'll be another somewhat soggy day with areas of rain, possibly mixed with snow across parts of the state.
Somewhat Soggy Saturday
Here's the precipitation outlook through the weekend, which shows some 0.25" to 0.50" tallies possible across parts of the state. This rain will be very beneficial as we head into the green up season!
March Summary So Far
Here's the latest March Summary for Minneapolis through March 24th. Note that the Twin Cities is more than +9F above average for the month, which is actually the 8th warmest start to any March on record! We're also more than 1" above average precipitation, but running a deficit in the snowfall category by nearly 5".
Friday Weather Outlook For Minneapolis
Friday will be a mild day with temps warming into the lower 50s, which will be above average for this time of the year.
Friday Meteograms
Here are the meteograms for Friday, which show temps warming from the upper 20s early in the morning into the 50s by mid afternoon. Clouds will also be on the increase with ESE wind from 5-10mph
Friday Weather Outlook
High temps across the region on Friday will be nearly 5F to 10F above average with high temps warming into the 40s and 50s across much of the state.
Extended Temperature Outlook
Here's the extended temperature and weather outlook over the next 5 to 7 days. Note that high temps will warm to near 50s, which will be nearly 5F above average for late March. Note that highs on Monday could warm to 70F for the first time this year! Stay tuned.
Spring Leaf Index
"How do you know when spring has begun? Is it the appearance of the first tiny leaves on the trees, or the first crocus plants peeping through the snow? The First Leaf and First Bloom Indices are synthetic measures of these early season events in plants, based on recent temperature conditions. These models allow us to track the progression of spring onset across the country. March 22, 2021 Spring leaf out continues to spread north across the country. After arriving early in southern parts of Southwest and Southeast states, cold temperatures halted the progress of spring leaf out for several days across the northern part of the Southeast and Great Plains. Spring leaf out is now gaining momentum again as it moves into Midwest states but continues to be behind schedule in the mid-Atlantic. Spring bloom has arrived in parts of Southwest and Southeast states. Spring bloom is early in California and Arizona and late in parts of Southeast states."
Extended Temperature Outlook
Here's the ECMWF & GFS extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis through the end of March and into the early part of April.
8 to 14 Day Temperature Outlook
According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows temps warming to above average levels across much of the Central US.
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By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas.
Believe it or not, the first full month of Meteorological Spring is almost over. Twins tickets went on sale yesterday and the Home Opener is less than 2 weeks away. I don't know about you, but hearing the words "Play Ball" is a sure sign of warmer days ahead in my book!
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, much of the state is still considered to be abnormally dry with moderate drought being reported across the far north and west. The soaking rains that we picked up earlier this week were much needed and will certainly help with the spring green up over the coming weeks.
The National Phenology Network is reporting the first of the spring leaves beginning to emerge across parts of southern Iowa and the cherry blossoms in Washington DC have reached the 'peduncle elongation' stage, meaning that peak bloom is likely about a week away!
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Extended Forecast
FRIDAY: Mild. Filtered PM sunshine. Winds: SSE 5-10. High: 52.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Cloudy with a chance of rain. Winds: ESE 5. Low: 40.
SATURDAY: Rain likely. Wet snow mix farther N. Winds: NW 8-13. High: 50.
SUNDAY: Brighter, better day of the weekend. Winds: WSW 5-10. Wake-up: 31. High: 51.
MONDAY: Gusty and very warm. Nearing 70F! Winds: SSW 15-25. Wake-up: 40. High: 68.
TUESDAY: Front blows through. Few showers. Winds: WNW 15-25. Wake-up: 48. High: 61.
WEDNESDAY: Sunny skies. Cooler breeze. Winds: NW 10-20. Wake-up: 33. High: 45.
THURSDAY: Last cool day before big warm up? Winds: N 5-10. Wake-up: 31. High: 43.
This Day in Weather History
March 26th
2012: This is the record early ice-out date on Mille Lacs Lake.
2007: Temperature records are shattered across much of central and southern Minnesota and west central Wisconsin. The following records were set: 69 at Alexandria, 75 at Mankato, 77 at Little Falls, 79 at St. Cloud, 81 at Minneapolis-St. Paul and Eau Claire, 82 at Redwood Falls, and 83 at Springfield.
Average High/Low for Minneapolis
March 26th
Average High: 47F (Record: 81F set in 2007)
Average Low: 28F (Record: -10F set in 1996)
Record Rainfall: 1.02" set in 1921
Record Snowfall: 8.5" set in 1936
Sunrise/Sunset Times for Minneapolis
March 26th
Sunrise: 7:04am
Sunset: 7:33pm
Hours of Daylight: ~12 hours & 29 minutes
Daylight GAINED since yesterday: ~ 3 minutes & 8 seconds
Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 3 hours & 43 minutes
Moon Phase for March 26th at Midnight
1.5 Days Until Full "Worm" Moon
"1:48 p.m. CDT - In this month the ground softens and earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of robins. Some more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which will be observed one week later on Sunday, April 4."
What's in the Night Sky?
"The moon will look full to the eye on both March 27 and 28, 2021. The crest of the full moon falls on March 28 at 18:48 UTC (2:48 p.m. Eastern; 1:48 p.m. Central; 12:48 p.m. Mountain and 11:48 a.m. Pacific; translate UTC to your time). In North America, we call the March full moon the Worm Moon, Crow Moon or Sap Moon. This 2021 March full moon presents the first of three springtime full moons in the Northern Hemisphere, and the first of three autumn full moons in the Southern Hemisphere. Lunar perigee – from two root words meaning "near" and "Earth" – will come on March 30, 2021. Thus this full moon is somewhat closer to us than usual. It's 2021's 4th-closest full moon. And you might hear some people calling this full moon a supermoon … but is it? The next three full moons in April, May and June 2021 will be closer yet, with the May 26, 2021 full moon presenting this year's closest supermoon."
National High Temps Friday
Here's the weather outlook on Friday, which shows temps warming to above average levels in the eastern half of the nation with record high temps possible along the East Coast.
National Forecast Map For Friday
The weather map on Friday shows active weather continuing along the northern tier of the nation and in the southeastern US.
National Weather Outlook
Here's the weather outlook through the weekend, which shows active weather continuing in the eastern half of the nation.
Extended Precipitation Outlook
The extended precipitation outlook over the next 7 days shows areas of heavy rains across the Gulf Coast states and Tennessee Valley with several inches of rain possible through the week.
Extended Snowfall Outlook
Areas of heavy snow will still be possible across parts of the northern half of the nation and especially in the Western US.
Climate Stories
"Aircraft contrails are a climate menace. Can we rid the sky of them?"
"The wispy cloud trails left by aircraft cause more warming than the carbon emissions from their fuel. Now there might be a simple way to stop them forming. THERE are few more delightful antidotes to stress than to lie on your back in warm grass and watch the clouds go by. As children, we love finding the outlines of animals and castles in the billowing shapes. As adults, there is something calming and comforting about those fluffy tufts of white drifting slowly past. Clouds are beautiful. Clouds are innocent. With one exception. The streaky smears of cloud that criss-cross the sky in the wake of aeroplanes may look too wispy to cause any harm. But we now know that these condensation trails, or contrails, make an outsized contribution to global warming by trapping heat like a downy jacket. "They are one of the few manifestations of man-made climate change agents that you can actually observe," says David Lee, an atmospheric scientist at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK. As the evidence mounts to show how harmful contrails are, some engineers are reaching for an audacious solution: scrub them from the sky altogether. Contrails are created when water condenses to form ice crystals around tiny particles of soot from aircraft exhausts. Yet there is no fundamental reason why this has to happen. Decades of experiments with spy planes, alternative engines and, most recently, with artificial intelligence have shown that it is possible to stop them forming. It won't be easy: wiping the atmosphere clean of contrails may require nothing less than a wholesale reimagining of the traffic in our skies."
See more from New Scientist HERE:
"Australian Bushfires Spewed Volcanic Eruption-Worth of Aerosols Into The Stratosphere"
"The bushfires that ravaged Australia between 2019 and 2020 were so huge that they spewed as much smoke into the stratosphere as a large volcanic eruption, with serious consequences for the environment, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. The stratosphere is the second layer of the atmosphere, right above the troposphere – where we live. "For us, it was a huge surprise" to see such a significant effect, study co-author Ilan Koren, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, told AFP. "I never saw such an injection (of smoke) to the stratosphere," he said. The amount of smoke released into the atmosphere by the fires is comparable to that put out by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991, which was the second-largest of the 20th century. Researchers noted that the smoke drifted away from Australia to the east, and then returned again from the west two weeks later. "We could see the smoke completing a whole circulation in two weeks," Koren said. "I never saw such a strong event spread so fast." The phenomenon can be explained by three factors, according to the study. First, the fires themselves were intense."
See more From Science Alert HERE:
"Melting Glaciers Contribute To Alaska Earthquakes"
"In 1958, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake triggered a debris avalanche into Southeast Alaska's Lituya Bay. Displacing estimated 40 million cubic yards of water in an instant, the avalanche created a wave that ran 1,700 feet up a mountainside before racing out to sea. The largest known tsunami in history was taller than the Empire State Building in New York - 1,454 feet (or 443,2 meters) tall. Geological evidence, historical testimonies, and even myths suggest that earthquakes followed by megatsunami are quite common here. Since 1853, at least four or five similar events are documented. French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who explored Alaska in 1786, noted that the shores of Lituya Bay "had been cut cleanly like with a razor blade," suggesting that a tsunami occurred shortly before his arrival. Local legends of seamonsters shaking the Earth record even earlier events, predating modern explorers and scientists by centuries. Researchers now think the region's widespread loss of glacier ice helped set the stage for the earthquakes and their increasing intensity."
