Fantastic Fall Weather For The Second Weekend Of September

I don't think I can find a weather complaint about the Saturday we're going to have across the metro! Morning temperatures will start off in the 50s before highs climb to the low 70s. Skies could have a bit of cloud cover early on Saturday, but conditions will become sunnier throughout the day.

The band of rain that passed through the metro on Friday will continue to impact parts of southeastern Minnesota on Saturday with showers for areas like Rochester. Otherwise, the rest of the state is dry and cool behind that front that moved through with highs in the 60s and 70s.

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And that beautiful fall weather we will see on Saturday will continue into Sunday, with just a few clouds passing by and highs in the low 70s. As we head into early next week, we start to see temperatures trending upward again - but mainly sunny skies will still be around.

Already as we head toward Tuesday highs could approach 80F, lasting through the end of the week. A fairly dry pattern is expected after the rain we saw on Friday, but I can't rule out some rumbles of thunder late next week once again.

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We're now over a week into September, which means it's time to keep a close eye on the progress of fall colors across the region! So far, none of the Minnesota DNR State Parks are reporting anything above the 0-10% range. However, we know how quickly that will change as we head through the next month or so. You can keep your eye on this map over the next several weeks from the MN DNR by clicking here.

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Ignore Doomsday Winter Outlooks
By Paul Douglas

At the risk of spreading disinformation the Farmer's Almanac winter outlook for Minnesota is gulp-worthy: "Hibernation Zone. Glacial. Snow-filled". So just another ordinary winter right? Hype sells, but in spite of clues, climate models and La Nina weather correlations, the winter outlook is largely unknowable. Weather is random and chaotic. I am not yet convinced we will endure a Pioneer Winter.

Meteorological Summer was 2F warmer than average in the metro. 13th warmest since 1872 - 9th driest. Based on NOAA cooling degree data, we spent 26% more cooling our homes and businesses than usual. Bring on some free Canadian A/C.

Rain tapers this morning but a storm is forecast to stall over Wisconsin by Sunday, where some 2-4" rainfall amounts are expected. Skies brighten today with some cool sunshine possible morning and midday Sunday, but showers may push into the metro area late tomorrow.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SATURDAY: Wet start, some PM sun. Wake up 55. High 69. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind NW 8-13 mph.

SUNDAY: Partly sunny, late showers southeast. Wake up 53. High 70. Chance of precipitation 40%. Wind N 7-12 mph.

MONDAY: Sunnier and milder. Wake up 52. High 73. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind N 5-10 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Sunny and warmer. Wake up 58. High 84. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SE 8-13 mph.

THURSDAY: Hazy sun, feels like August. Wake up 67. High 87. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 10-20 mph.

FRIDAY: Some sun, few T-storms around. Wake up 68. High 86. Chance of precipitation 30%. Wind S 8-13 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
September 10th

*When Do We Drop Below 12 Hours Of Daylight?: September 26th (11 hours, 57 minutes, 40 seconds)
*When Does The Sun Start Rising At/After 7 AM?: September 22nd (7:00 AM)
*When Does The Sun Start Setting At/Before 7 PM?: September 27th (7:00 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
September 10th

2002: A late-season tornado strikes Albertville just after midnight. According to a damage survey conducted by NWS personnel, it touched down on the eastern edge of Cedar Creek Golf Course, then it moved straight east and dissipated in a city park just west of the railroad tracks. It completely tore the roof off of one home. Roofs were partially off a number of other homes, many attached garages collapsed, and a couple of houses were rotated on their foundation. About 20 homes were damaged, nine of which sustained significant damage.

1986: 3 inch hail falls in Watonwan County.

1931: St Cloud experiences a record high of 106 degrees, and it reaches 104 degrees in Minneapolis.

1910: The shortest growing season on record in Duluth ends, with frost free days from June 14 to September 10 (87 days). Normally the frost-free season is 143 days.

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On Saturday, a frontal boundary near the Southeast will continue to bring the threat of heavy rain. The Southwest will see showers and storms fueled by Kay. And a cold front across the Central U.S. into the Great Lakes will bring showers and a few storms.

Several areas of heavier rain are possible through the weekend. One is across southern California due to the influx of moisture northward from Kay off of Baja California. Two areas of heavier rain are possible in the Southeast - one in the Big Bend of Florida, and another along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts. In these three areas, rainfall amounts of 3"+ are possible. 1-3" of rain will also be possible across parts of the Mid-Atlantic and in the upper Midwest.

Major Climate 'Tipping Points' Are Just on the Horizon

More from Gizmodo: "Rapid sea level rise, mass die-offs in coral reefs, and quickly melting glaciers are closer to occurring than we think. The planet needs to stay within 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming if we want to avoid triggering some of these events, but a new study published in Science on Thursday finds that we're already in the danger zone for several irreversible changes to some climate systems: what are known as tipping points. The tipping points in this study are described as a threshold that is crossed when changes add up and then cause larger changes in the global climate. Researchers identified 16 major tipping points that help regulate Earth's climate. These include nine global core tipping points that contribute to the plant's regular functions, like melting permafrost in the Arctic or the collapse of ocean currents."

California's fleet of battery storage working to avert energy crisis

More from Energy Storage News: "On 6 September, Jill Anderson, executive VP for operations at another big utility, Southern California Edison, tweeted that it was "incredible" to see battery storage set "record after record of grid support during this intense heatwave". The most extreme mismatch between supply and demand generally comes between 7pm and 9pm, in the evening peak. Anderson posted a graph from CAISO showing that around 7pm on that day, well over 3,000MW of battery capacity was discharging to the grid. "Just now we saw batteries discharging more than double last year & orders of magnitude more than what was available to the grid in 2020," Anderson tweeted."

Big oil companies are spending millions to appear 'green.' Their investments tell a different story, report shows

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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