Cool, Cloudy, Windy Weather Continues - A Few Sprinkles Or Snowflakes The Next Few Days?

While it wasn't record-breaking on Tuesday (the record was 85F back in 2015), Tuesday's high of 80F was almost 20F degrees above average! It's completely possible that yesterday was the last 80F degree day of the year - our average last 80F across the entire Twin Cities record is September 29th (and over the past 30 years it has been October 2nd). Last year the last 80F was on September 30th. This year we have observed 77 80F+ degree days - tied for 36th most in a year.

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Small hail in St. Cloud on October 12, 2022. Credit Parker Kayser

Along with the breezy, wet, and cool conditions we saw on Wednesday, some areas did pick up some small hail. This was a picture from my brother Parker Kayser in St. Cloud of some of the small hail that fell with the stronger cells across the region.

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It definitely is feeling more like fall now across the region after that Tuesday Night cold front. Temperatures on Thursday in the metro aren't going to budge too much - only rising from the upper 30s/low 40s in the morning to the mid/upper 40s in the afternoon hours. We'll see mostly cloudy skies throughout the day, but there should be a few peeks of the sun through the cloud cover. I don't think we can rule out an isolated sprinkle or snowflake at times.

The better chance of some snowflakes or sprinkles will be up in northern Minnesota throughout the day, courtesy of a low-pressure area near Lake Superior. Highs will be 10-20F degrees below average, ranging from the 30s up north to the 50s in southwestern Minnesota.

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Potential forecast radar from 7 AM Thursday to 1 PM Friday.

With that previously mentioned area of low-pressure hanging near Lake Superior over the next couple of days, we could see a few rounds of light snow across mainly northern Minnesota. However, as far south of the metro and southeastern Minnesota, we could see a few light sprinkles or flurries at times.

Potential snow accumulation through 7 AM Saturday.

Some of this snow could lightly accumulate, mainly in northern Minnesota where in some areas an inch or two could fall.

It won't be t-shirt and shorts weather anytime soon as we continue to creep toward winter across the region. With persistent northwest flow across the region, highs will remain stuck in the 40s the next five days in the Twin Cities - 10F to 15F degrees below average.

Meanwhile, we will continue to see gusty winds out of the northwest for the next several days, continuing to keep cooler air in place across the region. Saturday will see the "lightest" winds, but don't be surprised if through early next week a lot of the leaves fall off the trees due to the strong winds.

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Fall colors at Father Hennepin State Park on Tuesday, October 11, 2022.

I just got back from a trip up to the Mille Lacs Kathio/Father Hennepin areas, and the colors on Monday and Tuesday were in full force! Here were the yellows that I saw Tuesday at Father Hennepin. With Tuesday's gusty winds, the leaves were certainly starting to be stripped from the trees.

Here's a handy map of typical peak fall colors from the MN DNR. This ranges from mid/late September in far northern Minnesota to mid-October in southern parts of the state.

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A Firehose of Chilly Air Into Tuesday
By Paul Douglas

"A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention" wrote Herbert A. Simon. Let me put down my phone and ponder that. It's hard to focus these days between pandemics, wars and political food-fights. My son has a theory: our brains haven't evolved sufficiently to be able to handle a 24/7 firehose of bad news. He may be right.

Up is down and left is right: on Wednesday I was happy to see gales of rain and 40s. Relieved that it can still rain, after only .27" rain at MSP since September 1. We should have picked up nearly 4" of rain.

Cold winds and showery rains spill into Saturday with a dusting of flakes as close as Mille Lacs.

A frosty start early next week gives way to more 60s and 70s in a week. Go figure.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Scrappy clouds, showers. Wake up 40. High 46. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind NW 15-30 mph.

SATURDAY: Ditto. More windswept showers. Wake up 37. High 48. Chance of precipitation 40%. Wind NW 15-25 mph.

SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy and brisk. Wake up 38. High 51. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NW 15-25 mph.

MONDAY: Partly sunny and chilly. Wake up 32. High 46. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

TUESDAY: Frosty start, blue sky. Wake up 28. High 45. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 7-12 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Sunny spells, a bit milder. Wake up 27. High 55. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 7-12 mph.

Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
October 13th

*Length Of Day: 11 hours, 5 minutes, and 13 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 3 minutes and 2 seconds

*When Do We Drop Below 11 Hours Of Daylight?: October 15th (10 hours, 59 minutes, 7 seconds)
*When Does The Sun Start Rising At/After 7:30 AM?: October 16th (7:30 AM)
*When Does The Sun Start Setting At/Before 6:30 PM?: October 14th (6:29 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
October 13th

1880: An early blizzard strikes parts of southwest and west central Minnesota. Huge drifts exceeding 20 ft in the Canby area would last until the following spring.

1820: A snowstorm at Ft. Snelling dumps 11 inches.

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We are tracking two systems in the central/eastern United States that will be the main focus for precipitation on Thursday. The first, a cold front stretching from the eastern Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast in the morning hours, brings showers and storms along the Eastern and Gulf Coasts. A different system, somewhat stuck in the Great Lakes, will bring rain and snow chances.

Most precipitation through the end of the week will fall in the eastern half of the nation, with quiet weather out west. Areas of southern Mississippi and Alabama, as well as parts of New England, could see over three inches of rain.

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A wetter world is changing farm country. Can growers adapt?

More from the Star Tribune: "Corn was just starting to tassel across much of the Midwest, including fields in southern Indiana, a golden crown signaling the end of the season. But while most farmers were preparing for harvest, Ray McCormick was climbing back into his tractor to re-plant his soybeans. The southwest Indiana farmer had to re-drill soybeans in August last year after two heavy rains on his river-bottom field wiped out a spring-planted corn crop and a July soybean crop. ... McCormick's delayed planting is one example of how a changing climate — and the rains that come with it — are transforming farm country in the Mississippi River watershed."

With Hotter Temperatures Come More Football Deaths

More from Sports Illustrated: "Before the Friday-night lights of the fall, there is the weekday afternoon heat of the summer. Scorching, oppressive days of merciless, withering triple-digit temperatures that come accessorized with carpets of humidity. It makes for the kind of conditions that are singularly ill-suited for running around outdoors, never mind doing so while wearing an insulated helmet, and wreathed in a 20-pound carapace of pads. But the coming of football season requires that teams start coordinating offenses, configuring defenses and defining their depth charts. The athletes need to start putting playbooks into practice and improving their conditioning."

More from Axios: "GM is transforming into more than an electric car company. It's becoming a diversified energy company — selling battery technology and energy management services to power not just cars, but also trains, boats, commercial equipment and buildings. Why it matters: Parlaying its battery and fuel cell expertise into other uses is a natural extension for GM, which aims to double annual revenue to $280 billion by 2030. What's happening: The automaker is creating a new business unit, GM Energy, that will sell energy storage and management services to residential and commercial customers."

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) and like me on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).

- D.J. Kayser