"Experience nature's greatest sight — a total eclipse of the Sun! On April 8, 2024, the shadow of the Moon will cross Mexico, the United States, and Canada. This spectacular total solar eclipse will amaze many millions of people. This is sure to be a record-setting astronomical event. Before that, the US is lucky to have a celestial warm-up act - an annular solar eclipse from Oregon to Texas on October 14, 2023. The next two solar eclipses in North America will be the Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 and the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024! The Annular Solar Eclipse of 2023 will cross the US from Oregon to Texas and then will proceed to Central America and South America. The Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 will sweep across North America from Mazatlán to Newfoundland. A Total Solar Eclipse is truly spectacular; you will have the unique opportunity to stand in the shadow of the moon and witness the sun's exquisite corona."

See more from the Great American Eclipse HERE:

The difference between an Annular and a Total Solar Eclipse is based on the position of the moon. With Saturday, October 14th Annular solar eclipse, the moon is farther away from Earth, so the moon does not completely obscure the sun, which means there will be a "Ring of Fire" visible in the path from Oregon to Texas. With a total solar eclipse, the moon is closer to Earth, which mean that the moon will completely obscure the sun and you get a "Halo" effect. The Total Solar Eclipse is the most sought after and will be visible on April 8th, 2024 from Texas to Maine!

For Minneapolis on Saturday, October 14th, we'll have a partial solar eclipse, where nearly 50% of the sun will be covered. The maximum eclipse time will occur around 11:48AM CT. Unfortunately, it look very cloud around the state, so we will not be able to see this celestial event.

See more from Time & Date HERE:

Here is a look at the cloud cover forecast around 11:48am on Saturday, October 14th. Again, unfortunately it appears that we'll be dealing with mostly cloudy skies around the region.

Here's the simulated radar from 7AM Saturday to 1PM Sunday, which shows much drier weather in place than what we had on Friday. However, a few spotty showers and sprinkles will still be possible on Saturday. Sunday should be drier yet, but lingering low clouds will still be in place.

Recent heavy rains have helped the drought situation quite a bit in spots across the state. With that being said, we're still in a drought across much of the state with nearly 5% under an extreme drought, which improved since last week. We should see additional improvement after this weeks rain, but we won't see that show up in the drought maps until next week. Stay tuned...

Here's a picture from Sandra Neeser and the MN DNR website at Crow Wing State Park State Park . Fall colors look well underway there and will continue over the coming days.

According to the MN DNR, the fall color season is well underway. Parts of northern Minnesota are already at and past peak color. Fall colors will continue to rapidly change, so take a moment and enjoy the season while you can. Note that most leaves will vacate the premises in a few weeks and won't return until sometime in mid/late May...

See more from the MN DNR HERE:

Here's a look at the fall color report in Wisconsin. Fall colors are peaking in some areas and peak isn't far away in others.

According to the MN DNR, typical peak color arrives across the international border mid to late September with peak color arriving near the Twin Cities late September to mid October. It won't be long now and you'll be able to find your favorite fall color in a backyard near you.

Here's a look at Tropical Storm Sean from PM Friday, which looked pretty disorganized. Regardless, Sean becomes our 18th named storm of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

The 7 day outlook for the Atlantic Basin shows a couple of disturbances in place. The first is Sean in the Central Atlantic, while the 2nd is a developing wave just off the western tip of Africa that has a high probability of formation over the next 7 days. Interestingly, this is drifting west toward the Eastern Caribbean and is something that we'll have to keep an eye on over the next several days.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th, but did you know that the typical peak is September 10th? This is when the Atlantic Basin has had the most hurricanes and named storms since records began. This is also when weather conditions are at optimal levels for these types of storms.

The weather outlook on Saturday will still be breezy across the region, but won't be quite as wet as it was on Friday. Temperature will generally warm into the upper 40s and lower 50s, which will be nearly -5F to -10F below average with lingering clouds and spotty showers/sprinkles.

Temperature in Minneapolis will start in the mid 40s in the morning and will warm into the low/mid 50s in the afternoon. It'll be a mostly cloudy day with lingering light showers and or sprinkles with north to northeasterly winds gusting up to 25mph at times.

The 5 day temperature outlook for Minneapolis shows cooler than average temperatures hanging on through early next week, but we'll gradually warm to near 60F by midweek, which will be a little above average for mid October.

After Friday's very uncomfortable weather, the 7 day extended outlook shows temps warming into the 50s through next week. We'll dry out a little more into early next week with temperatures gradually warming close to 60F by midweek before a weak storm system moves in Wednesday & Thursday with a chance of light rain.

According to NOAA's National Blend of Models, temps will hover in the 50s over the next several days with overnight lows in the 30s and 40s. There appears to be a gradual warming trend later next week with highs approaching 60F once again.

Here's the long range national weather forecast through next weekend, which shows our current storm system fading across the Midwest with areas of heavy rain and strong winds moving east into the Midwest and Eastern US. That storm moves into the Eastern US with areas of heavy rain this weekend. Our next chance of rain develops during the 2nd half of next week, which at this point looks pretty light.

As we approach the 3rd and 4th week of October it appears that the Central and Western US will be a little quieter and drier.

Let's take a moment to recall our 5th hottest and 7th driest summer (June through August) on record at MSP. September doubled down and became the hottest September on record at MSP as well. Interestingly, September 2023 was the hottest September on record, globally, beating the previous record set in 2020.

Now, like a Taylor Swift sighting at a Kansas City Chiefs game, rain and cooler temps have become more frequent in our weather forecasts. After yesterday's widespread, drought-denting rainfall, the metro has picked up nearly 6 to 7 inches (or more) in the last 3 weeks. Good grief!

I'm happy to report that skies will slowly dry and winds will slowly subside as we drift through the weekend. Today will feature a few spits here and there with improving weather tomorrow. Temps hover in the 50s over the next few days with 60s possibly by midweek. Winds increase Wednesday as a clipper arrives with another shot of light rain.

Still no snow in the forecast and I am okay with that. We'll see plenty when the winter winds blow.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy. Drying out. Winds: N 5-15. Low: 43.

SUNDAY: Getting brighter and better. Winds: NNW 5-15. High: 55.

MONDAY: Pleasant fall day. Sunnier. Winds: NNW 5-10. Wake-up: 40. High: 56.

TUESDAY: Quiet. Slightly warmer afternoon temps. Winds: SSE 5-10. Wake-up: 41. High: 58.

WEDNESDAY: More clouds. Few showers. Winds: WSW 10-20. Wake-up: 46. High 62.

FRIDAY: Peeks of sun and pumpkins. Winds: N 5-15. Wake-up: 46. High 57.

October 14th

1966: An enormous hailstone crashes through the windshield of a truck near Claremont in Dodge County. It was reported to be 16 inches in circumference.

October 14th

Average High: 59F (Record: 86F set in 1947)

Record Rainfall: 1.89" set in 1966

Record Snowfall: Trace set in 1909, 1943 & 1959

October 14th

Sunrise: 7:27am

Sunset: 6:30pm

Daylight LOST since yesterday: 3 Minutes & 2 Seconds

Daylight LOST since Summer Solstice (June 21st): ~ 4 Hour & 44 Minutes

0.5 Days Since New Moon

See more from Space.com HERE:

Temps on Saturday will be cooler than average by nearly -5F to -10F across the Central US in the wake of the storm system that dropped some 2" to 3" of rain across parts of Minnesota. Weather conditions will sour quite a bit in the Eastern US as that storm moves east.

A storm system will continue to move through the Midwest and Great Lakes on Saturday with strong winds and heavy rainfall across parts of the region. As the storm moves east it will speed up a bit, but strong storms and heavy rainfall will still be a potential issue for some east of the Mississippi River.

The extended precipitation outlook through the weekend shows widespread soaking rains across the Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast as we head into the weekend.

"Meteorologists anticipate a big impact in winter 2023, but the forecasts don't all agree. Winter is still weeks away, but meteorologists are already talking about a snowy winter ahead in the southern Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. They anticipate more storms in the U.S. South and Northeast, and warmer, drier conditions across the already dry Pacific Northwest and the upper Midwest. One phrase comes up repeatedly with these projections: "A strong El Niño is coming." It sounds ominous. But what does that actually mean? We asked Aaron Levine, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington whose research focuses on El Niño. WHAT IS A STRONG EL NIÑO? During a normal year, the warmest sea surface temperatures are in the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, in what's known as the Indo-Western Pacific warm pool. But every few years, the trade winds that blow from east to west weaken, allowing that warm water to slosh eastward and pile up along the equator. The warm water causes the air above it to warm and rise, fueling precipitation in the central Pacific and shifting atmospheric circulation patterns across the basin. This pattern is known as El Niño, and it can affect weather around the world."

See more from Fast Company HERE:

"There is growing consensus that our planet is likely to pass the 1.5℃ warming threshold. Research even suggests global warming will temporarily exceed the 2℃ threshold, if atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) peaks at levels beyond what was anticipated. Exceeding our emissions targets is known as a climate overshoot. It may lead to changes that won't be reversible in our lifetime. These changes include sea-level rise, less functional ecosystems, higher risks of species extinction, and glacier and permafrost loss. We are already seeing many of these changes. Our newly published research in Communications Earth & Environment investigates the implications of a climate overshoot for the oceans. Across all climate overshoot experiments and all models, our analysis found associated changes in water temperatures and oxygen levels will decrease viable ocean habitats."

"Biggest solar superstorm yet Scientists said on October 9, 2023, that they have a new candidate for the biggest solar superstorm yet known. The evidence takes the form of radiocarbon (carbon 14) in ancient tree rings, which had been preserved in a riverbank in the French Alps. The scientists believe that, for this much radiocarbon to show up in tree rings, an immense spike in radiocarbon must have occurred in Earth's upper atmosphere some 14,300 years ago. They believe the spike stemmed from a huge disturbance on the sun that rippled out across the solar system, a solar superstorm so powerful that we still see its effect, thousands of years later. Solar storms aren't rare. But solar superstorms packing this much punch certainly are rare. If one were to strike Earth today, Earth's atmosphere would protect our human bodies from harm. But the superstorm would likely cause billions of dollars in damages to human technologies, in particular to our electric grid, and also to satellites in Earth's orbit."

See more from EarthSky HERE: