"El Nino, above-average Atlantic Ocean temperatures set the stage. NOAA forecasters with the Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service, predict near-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic this year. NOAA's outlook for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, which goes from June 1 to November 30, predicts a 40% chance of a near-normal season, a 30% chance of an above-normal season and a 30% chance of a below-normal season. NOAA is forecasting a range of 12 to 17 total named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Of those, 5 to 9 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 1 to 4 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher). NOAA has a 70% confidence in these ranges."

See more NOAA HERE

Our last full week of May looks somewhat tame across the Midwest through the first part of the week with mild and smokey sunshine. There could be a few stray t-showers here and there midweek, but there will be a better chance of more widespread rain and thunder across the Dakotas this upcoming weekend.

The weather outlook for the Twin Cities on Friday, May 26th shows another sunny and mild day with highs warming into the upper 70s. Thanks to Canadian wildfires, skies could be a little hazy at times.

Temps on Friday will be nearly +5F to +10F above average across the region with highs warming mainly into the 70s & 80s.

The hourly temps through the day Friday show temps starting in the mid 50s in the morning and warming into the upper 70s by the afternoon. Skies will generally be sunny with southeasterly wind around 10mph to 15mph at times.

Temperatures through the weekend and into early next week show a gradual warming trend with A/C worthy temps next week as we approach the 90F mark.

The NBM extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis shows 80s returning as we approach the weekend with a gradual warming trend into next week with highs approaching 90F.

A fairly large bubble of high pressure will settle in across the Great Lakes late this week, which will keep skies generally quiet. On the western edge of this high-pressure system, winds will turn more southerly and warm things up in the Midwest late week/weekend ahead.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14-day temperature outlook shows warmer-than-average temperatures settling in across the northern tier of the nation and especially across the Northern Plains to the Northern Rockies. Cooler than average temps will be in place across parts of the Southern US.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 Day precipitation outlook shows more active weather possible across The Plains and the Western US.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Interestingly, skin cancer is America's most common cancer with more than 5 million cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Fortunately, it is also one of the preventable.

With that being said, this long Memorial Day Weekend could arguably be one of the nicest on record with bright sunshine and mild temps. I suspect that many of us will be getting a free dose of vitamin D at some point over the next few days, but don't forget to slather on the SPF. Sunburn times could occur in 10 to 15 minutes or less without the proper protection from the sun's harmful UVA and UVB rays.

In the meantime, lawns are getting dry. MSP hasn't had a drop of rain in over a week and won't see any until sometime next week.

FRIDAY: Mild. Hazy sunshine. Winds: SSE 10-20. High 79.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Clear and quiet. Winds: SSE 5-10. Low: 55.

SATURDAY: Sunny. As good as it gets. Winds: SSE 10-15. High: 81.

MEMORIAL DAY MONDAY: A Memorial Day wonder. Winds: SSE 10-15. Wake-up: 62. High: 86.

TUESDAY: Minnesota Hot. Late day rumbles north. Winds: SSW 7-12. Wake-up: 65. High: 87.

WEDNESDAY: Warm & sticky. Spotty PM T-Showers. Winds: ESE 5-10. Wake-up: 66. High 87.

THURSDAY: Happy June! Summertime storms. Winds: S 5-10. Wake-up: 67. High 86.

May 26th

May 26th

Average High: 73F (Record: 96F set in 1978)

Average Low: 54F (Record: 34F set in 1992)

Record Rainfall: 1.60" set in 1873

Record Snowfall: Trace set in 1951

Sunrise: 5:33am

Sunset: 8:46pm

Hours of Daylight: ~15 hours & 12 minutes

Daylight GAINED since yesterday: +1 Minute & 49 Seconds

Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 6 hour & 26 minutes

Temperatures on Thursday will be very mild across the Intermountain-West, where readings will be nearly +5F to +15F above average. It'll be a little cooler in the Great Lakes but not too terribly cold.

The weather outlook on Friday will be unsettled across the Plains with a few spotty t-storms.

The weather outlook through Friday shows spotty showers and storms developing across the Plains and also in the Southeastern US. There could be a few isolated strong to severe storms here and there, but it won't be too widespread.

According to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center, the extended precipitation outlook shows heavier precipitation across parts of the Central Plains and also the Southeastern US. A few locations could see 1" to 3" of rain over the next several days.

"With technology increasingly embedded in our everyday lives, it is becoming more important to understand space weather and its impacts on tech. When one hears "space weather", one typically thinks of huge explosions on the Sun – coronal mass ejections hurled towards Earth, creating beautiful displays of aurora. However, not all space weather starts at the Sun. The volcanic eruption in Tonga in January 2022 was so large, it created waves in the upper atmosphere that constituted their own form of space weather. It was one of the largest explosions in modern history and impacted GPS across Australia and Southeast Asia. As we describe in our new study in the journal Space Weather, the eruption caused a super "plasma bubble" over northern Australia that lasted for hours."

"Unless countries intensify their commitments to climate action, a new study argues that Earth is heading toward temperatures that could lock a staggering one-third of the planet's population in extreme heat before the end of the century. Average global temperatures have already climbed 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Revolution, pushing some 600 million people outside of the "human climate niche," what scientists use to refer to zones we've inhabited for thousands of years because it's where we can grow crops, raise livestock, not die of heatstroke or freeze to death, and generally thrive as a species. In a study published Monday in Nature Sustainability, the coauthors—two leaders in climate change research, the University of Exeter's Tim Lenton and Nanjing University's Chi Xu—argue that unless countries reduce global warming to the levels agree upon as safe for humans (the Paris Accord's limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, five times more people will find themselves enduring unprecedented heat outside the human climate niche within the next half to three-quarters of a century."

See more from Fast Company HERE:

"Scientists have invented a device that can continuously generate electricity from thin air, offering a glimpse of a possible sustainable energy source that can be made of almost any material and runs on the ambient humidity that surrounds all of us, reports a new study. The novel "air generator," or Air-gen, is made from materials with holes that are under 100 nanometers in length, which is a scale thousand times smaller than a human hair. This design can pull electricity from water droplets in the air for much longer periods than previous concepts, the researchers report, suggesting that it could eventually provide a continuous and sustainable source of power. Researchers hope the technique could eventually help to fight climate change by serving as an alternative to fossil fuels."

See more from Vice HERE: