My best investment? A generator for our home. Because apparently electricity is optional where we live, an older neighborhood 15 miles from Minneapolis. Newer towns bury their power lines. Not here. A fresh breeze can bring down branches and turn the clock back to 1880. Fade to black.
With aging infrastructure, a warmer and more volatile climate, and supersized storms, having a Plan B to keep the lights on may not be a bad idea.
Eighty percent of power outages are weather-related. Across the U.S., weather-triggered outages have doubled since the early 2000s, with 80% of major outages due to weather factors like storms, heat, and wildfires, according to Climate Central.
An irritable sky will leak more rain Thursday morning, but we dry out by afternoon with sunshine Friday and much of the weekend. Thunderstorms may flare up over northern Minnesota this weekend, reaching MSP on Sunday night.
In theory, next week looks drier statewide, with thunderstorms pushed to our south and west. Highs in the 70s later next week will feel just fine.
Time to dial down the rain a bit, huh?
