April 17th through the 21st is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Minnesota. More information on Severe Weather Awareness Week activities in Minnesota can be obtained from the Minnesota Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

April 17th through the 21st is also Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week in the state of Wisconsin. More information can be obtained from Wisconsin Emergency Management.

Information about severe weather awareness will also be available on our Twitter feed and Facebook page.

Severe weather safety information can also be found on NOAA's Weather Ready Nation web site.

Tornado watch/warning drills will be held on Thursday, April 20th. A schedule for the tornado watch/warning drills appears at the bottom of the page.

Information on Siren Activation appears below.

Information about various topics on severe weather safety will be presented each day by the NWS Twin Cities. The list of daily topics for Severe Weather Awareness Week is:

Tuesday, April 18th - Severe Storms, Lightning, and Hail

Wednesday, April 19th - Floods

Thursday, April 20th - Tornadoes

Friday, April 21st - Extreme Heat

"The U.S. has sustained 348 weather and climate disasters since 1980 where overall damages/costs reached or exceeded $1 billion (including CPI adjustment to 2023). The total cost of these 348 events exceeds $2.510 trillion. 2023 in Progress… In 2023 (as of April 10), there have been no confirmed weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion to affect the United States. The 1980–2022 annual average is 8.1 events (CPI-adjusted); the annual average for the most recent 5 years (2018–2022) is 18.0 events (CPI-adjusted). Below is a preliminary list of potential 2023 events that are not yet finalized."

After a quieter Monday and Tuesday, another storm system will move into town Wednesday through Friday with rain and snow potential across the region. The heaviest snowfall looks to stay across the northern half of Minnesota. Stay tuned...

The extended precipitation outlook through the weekend suggests some decent amounts across the eastern part of Minnesota and into Wisconsin. Some locations across the southeastern part of the state could see tallies nearing 1" or more, including near the Twin Cities.

Snowfall amounts are quite impressive across the region with several locations running well above average. Duluth is closing in on the snowiest season on record and could likely break that record later this week, while the Twin Cities is at the 3rd snowiest season on record, nearly 40" above average. Note that Bismarck has seen nearly 100" of snow as well and is less than 2" away from the snowiest season on record there.

Interestingly, the NWS Twin Cities, located in Chanhassen has surpassed the 100" mark this season, which is officially the snowiest season on record there. Note that records only date back to 1995, when they moved into that particular office location. Regardless, more than 100" this season is a lot of snow!

Brainerd, MN and Bayfield, WI has also seen their snowiest seasons on record, while Duluth, MN is less than 0.5" away from the snowiest season on record! There's more snow in the forecast for northern Minnesota and that record could be broken by Thursday.

According to the National Weather Service, a number of river gauges around the region will be entering flood stage here over the next few days. Some spots will be at Moderate and even Major flood stage, which could cause issues in a few flood prone communities.

Here's the river forecast for the St. Croix River at Stillwater. Moderate flooding was occuring on Monday with Major flooding likely as we head through the rest of the week. Note that this could be the most significant crest since March 31st of 2019 and could potentially be the 6th highest crest on record there! If the crest gets to 90ft, HWY 95 between Afton and Bayport begins to flood. Lakefront Park bathhouse in Hudson affected.

See more from the river gauge HERE:

The Mississippi River at St. Paul is will be in flood stage over the next several days with Major Flood Stage expected by late week. It'll depend on how much additional precipitation we get this week, but river levels could certainly go higher into next weekend. Stay tuned...

The NBM extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis shows cooler temps in place through the week ahead. It looks even cooler this weekend with highs only in the 40s. The last full week of April could see temps warming back into the 60s.

Temps across the region on Wednesday will be running below average across the northern half of the with readings nearly -5F to -15F cooler than we should be at this time of the year. Temps in southern Minnesota will warm into the 60s, which will be a little bit above average for mid April

The hourly temps through the day Wednesday shows temps starting in the mid/upper 30s in the morning and warming to near 50F by the afternoon. Skies will be cloudier with showers and thunderstorms. Easterly winds

"Polar sea ice coverage for March 2023 ranked second smallest recorded. The planet continued its exceptionally warm start to the year with its second-warmest March on record. Global sea ice coverage also felt the heat, with sea ice running at its second-smallest extent since records began in 1979, according to scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. Below are more highlights from NOAA's latest monthly global climate report: Climate by the numbers March 2023 The average global land and ocean-surface temperature for March was 2.23 degrees F (1.24 degrees C) above the 20th-century average of 54.9 degrees (12.7 degrees C), ranking as the second-warmest March in the 174-year global climate record, behind March 2016. March 2023 also was the 47th-consecutive March and the 529th-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average. Looking at the continents, Asia had its second-warmest March on record, and South America and Africa each had their fourth-warmest. Europe saw its 10th-warmest March on record, while North America had a warmer-than-average March, but it did not rank among the top-20 warmest on record."

See more from NOAA HERE:

"April 17, 2023 - Spring leaf out continues to spread north. Spring arrived several days to weeks earlier than average (the period of 1991-2020) in much of the Southeast, lower Midwest, and mid-Atlantic, then slowed across the northern Great Plains and lower Midwest. In the past week, spring has picked up speed, arriving days to weeks early across the upper Midwest and northern Northeast. Salt Lake City, UT is 22 days late, Green Bay, WI and Portland, ME are 3 days early, and parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula are 12 days early. Spring bloom has also arrived in southern states, days to weeks early in the Southeast, and days to over a week late in the Southwest. Albuquerque is a week late, New York City is 11 days early. How typical is this year's spring? Darker colors represent springs that are unusually early or late in the long-term record. Gray indicates an average spring. Parts of the Southeast, lower Midwest, mid-Atlantic, and New York City area are seeing either the earliest spring leaf on record or a spring that only occurs once every 40 years (dark green). Parts of the West are seeing a spring that only occurs this late once every 40 years (purple). Spring bloom is latest on record across parts of the Southwest including California and Arizona, and earliest on record in parts of the upper Southeast including Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina."

After a quieter Tuesday, weather conditions turn more unsettled through the 2nd half of the week with more rain and snow possible. Winds will be breezy as this storm wraps up over the Midwest. Weather conditions this weekend look chilly, but it'll be a little quieter.

Temps will be quite chilly over the next several days with readings running nearly -5F to -15F below average. The coolest days will be later this week and weekend with readings only warming into the mid 40s.

Weather conditions will be more unsettled as we head through the 2nd half of the week. Showers and a few thunderstorms will be possible AM Wednesday with more rain and possibly snow Thursday into Friday. Other than a few leftover snow showers early AM Saturday, weather conditions will improve over the weekend, but it will be chilly.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows cooler than average temperatures across much of the Eastern half of the nation. Meanwhile, temps in the western US will be running above average by late month.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 Day precipitation outlook shows quieter weather in place across the Midwest and Northwest, while slightly more active weather across the East Coast and Gulf Coast.

Should Minnesota meteorologists refrain from using the s-word [snow] until October? For mental health purposes, absolutely. Brainerd has already seen the snowiest winter on record with 85.3". Third snowiest at MSP (90.3") and Duluth (135.1") will shatter the record for snowiest winter on record since 1885. From drought to flood in the twinkle of an eye.

Expect rain today with a few T-storms and wet roads locally. Rain ends as a little slush in the metro late Thursday, but models print out plowable (5-8"+) amounts of snow for Mille Lacs, Brainerd, Walker and Bemidji by Friday. Is there a therapist in the house?

Windblown flakes and sprinkles Friday give way to spurts of chilled sunshine over the weekend with highs near 40F. But the sun is too high in the sky for cold weather to hang on for long. Models show 50s later next week and 60s by late April. Whew...

WEDNESDAY: Rain, few T-storms. Winds: E 15-25. High 49.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Chance of t-showers overnight. Winds: E 5-10. Low: 42.

FRIDAY: March flashback. Wind-whipped flakes. Winds: W 15-35. Wake-up: 32. High 38.

SATURDAY: Peeks of sun, jacket-worthy. Winds: NW 15-25. Wake-up: 30. High: 41.

SUNDAY: Partly sunny and brisk. Winds: NW 10-15. Wake-up: 26. High: 44.

MONDAY: Cool sunshine. Winds: NE 7-12. Wake-up: 29. High: 50.

TUESDAY: A few high clouds, getting better. Winds: NE 7-12. Wake-up: 33. High: 54.

1928: Chilly air moves across the region with a record low of 19 at the Twin Cities.

1893: A heavy snowstorm at Bird Island would last until the 21st. 17 inches of snow would fall, with drifts 3 to 4 feet high.

1820: The first tornado ever reported in Minnesota hits the camp that would soon become Ft. Snelling. It damages the roof of a barracks, with no one injured.

April 19th

Average High: 58F (Record: 87F set in 1985)

Record Rainfall: 1.28" set in 1871

Record Snowfall: 1.2" set in 1982

April 19th

Sunrise: 6:21am

Sunset: 8:02pm

Daylight GAINED since yesterday: +2 Minutes & 57 Seconds

Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 4 hour & 55 minutes

0.1 Days Since New Moon

See more from Space.com HERE:

Temperatures on Wednesday will be quite warm across the Central US with highs warming into the 80s, which will be nearly +5F to +15F above average for this time of the year. A storm system will kick out showers and storms across the Central US, some of which will be strong to severe.

According to NOAA's SPC, there is a risk of strong to severe thunderstorms across the Central US on Wednesday and Thursday.

Another storm system will move out of the Northwest with areas of rain and snow lingering across parts of the Northwest and High Plains. It will also bring areas of snow to the Upper Midwest late week with showers and storms possible across the Central and Southern US.

According to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center, the extended precipitation outlook shows heavier amounts of precipitation across the Central US and especially across the Upper Midwest and the Lower Mississippi Valley. We'll also see some heavier precipitation across the Pacific Northwest.

According to the ECMWF (European model), snowfall accumulations will be possible along the international border. We'll also see areas of snow in the High Elevations across the Western US.

"The tailpipe emissions rules EPA proposed Wednesday are the sticks to Congress' carrots, providing the clearest view yet of how the agency plans to leverage the hundreds of billions of dollars lawmakers have pumped into clean energy and infrastructure. EPA built its two market-transforming rules on top of generous incentives in last year's Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, and the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. That resulted in the agency proposing the most aggressive restrictions in U.S. history on the carbon, smog and soot emitted from compact cars all the way up to long-haul trucks. It's a pattern EPA will likely repeat when it releases its power plant carbon rules later this month."

"This year, the world is predicted to pass a critical turning point in renewable energy. Greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, the largest source of the world's emissions, are expected to fall for the first time, according to London-based think tank Ember. That's despite the fact that the world's demand for electricity is still growing. Emissions are set to fall because expansion in renewable energies such as solar and wind is outstripping that growth in demand. It's a crucial moment in the effort to tackle climate change, and the report, written by Małgorzata Wiatros-Motyka, senior electricity analyst at Ember, and colleagues, argues that we are fast approaching a positive "tipping point" in the effort to curb climate change. "This marks the point where power sector emissions stop rising," Wiatros-Motyka and her colleagues write. "Clean power can actually go to replacing fossil fuels, instead of just meeting rising demand."

See more from BBC HERE:

"Global wind energy will pass the 1-terawatt (TW) threshold for installed capacity by the end of 2023, according to the newest market outlook from Wood Mackenzie. Luke Lewandowski, Wood Mackenzie research director, said: After needing more than 40 years to reach one TW of installations, the wind industry will reach the next TW of installations within the next eight years, a significant acceleration of growth. WoodMac forecasts that annual wind capacity additions in China overall will average a massive 80 GW and make up 50% of new capacity globally over the next ten years. European countries will add more than 343 GW of offshore and onshore wind capacity over the next decade; offshore wind will account for 39% of new capacity. Onshore growth in emerging Eastern European markets and the repowering of older wind farms in markets such as Germany and Spain will also drive wind energy adoption."

See more from Electrek HERE:

"The potential new mineral was discovered in a chunk of "fossilized lightning," or fulgurite, that was left behind when a tree in Florida was struck by lightning. A potentially brand new mineral may have been hiding inside a chunk of "fossilized lightning" from Florida, scientists have revealed. "We have never seen this material occur naturally on Earth," Mathew Pasek, a geoscientist at the University of South Florida, said in a statement. "Minerals similar to it can be found in meteorites and space, but we've never seen this exact material anywhere." The fossilized lightning chunk, or fulgurite, was created when lightning struck a tree near New Port Richey. Fulgurites form when powerful lightning bolts discharge through the ground, which melts and fuses any nearby soil, sand, rock and organic debris into a singular metallic-looking lump."