Near Record Cold Highs Expected Monday With Cloudy, Breezy Conditions

It was certainly an interesting Saturday across the state, with highs for the first time this year climbing into the 70s in the Twin Cities. The official high for MSP was 74F. We did see a few locations pop into the 80s out in western Minnesota, with the warmest airport location being Madison with a high of 82F. Compare that to the coldest high across the state yesterday - Warroad only made it to 39F!

It was also quite breezy, with wind gusts over 50 mph in portions of central and southern Minnesota. The peak airport wind gusts was out at Luverne - 63 mph at 2:55 PM.

Meanwhile we added another 0.28" of precipitation Saturday to our monthly total in the Twin Cities. MSP is now up to 2.96" of precipitation this month, which is 0.81" above average through the 23rd. Meanwhile, we saw record precipitation in both International Falls and Grand Forks which both saw over an inch of rain fall. Some areas in northern Minnesota reported 3-5" of rain, and due to that we did see flood reports including in the Grand Forks area.

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Monday will be a breezy, cloudy day in the Twin Cities with morning temperatures in the low 30s and highs only climbing to around 40F. The coldest high on record for April 25th is 37F in 1950, so we will be close to seeing a record cold high for the date. I mentioned the breezy winds - they'll be out of the west-northwest around 15 mph with gusts to 25 mph, making it feel only like the 20s throughout the day.

Cloudy and cool conditions reign across the state for the last Monday of April, with highs barely getting to or above 30F in far northern Minnesota but a few 40s will pop up in southern areas of the state.

Here's a look at the record cold highs for April 25th at climate locations across the state. Right now it looks like we'll warm above these levels at all locations, but several locations (especially up north) will be close!

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We will start to see temperatures slowly warm as we head through the week, but highs remain in the 40s Tuesday and Wednesday before breaking into the mid-50s for the rest of the work week. These highs continue to be below average, as our average highs are currently in the low to mid 60s. We will watch rain chances start to move back in toward the second half of the week, with the best chances Thursday and again over the weekend.

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So, how are you liking April so far? I'm hearing a lot of grumbles about our April weather, minus the fact that most haven't had to use their air conditioning much. Through the 23rd, we're sitting at the 23rd coldest start to April on record as well as the 13th wettest. At this point, I have that feeling it could be one of those Springs where it'll finally be nice for a week before getting unbearably hot (at least by my standards).

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Spring has lost its bounce. I'd like to return it for a full refund OK? What. I need the original receipt? I didn't read the small print? It looked better in the ad. Wut?

Hey, I sympathize. We quarantine during the winter, motivated by the promise of greening lawns, chirping birds and mulch come April. Well, most Aprils.

Is this an over-eager La Nina cold phase in the Pacific? Rapid melting in the Arctic impacting the configuration of the jet stream? Normal weather variability? Proving cause and effect is difficult, but it may be a little of each.

By my count today is March 56th and Canada is still very much in control of our weather into Thursday with daytime highs in the 40s. At least it's not snowing. Showers arrive Thursday with steadier rain Saturday. I see a 60-degree day or two next week with more consistent 60s by the second week of May but oh man, this is getting ridiculous.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the weather turned 180 degrees with a summer heat wave? Nothing would surprise me in '22.

Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

MONDAY: Mostly cloudy, brisk. Wake up 31. High 39. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 15-25 mph.

TUESDAY: Partly sunny and chilly. Wake up 28. High 44. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Clouds increase. Wake up 27. High 45. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind E 10-15 mph.

THURSDAY: Showery rains. Jackets linger. Wake up 37. High 44. Chance of precipitation 70%. Wind E 10-20 mph.

SATURDAY: Periods of rain, few T-storms. Wake up 46. High 57. Chance of precipitation 80%. Wind SE 15-25 mph.

SUNDAY: Unsettled, lingering showers. Wake up 44. High 51. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind NW 10-15 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
April 25th

*Length Of Day: 13 hours, 59 minutes, and 10 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 50 seconds

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This Day in Weather History
April 25th

1996: Heavy snow falls over northern Minnesota, including 10 inches of snow at Baudette. The International Falls Airport is forced to close for only the second time in history.

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On Monday, a cold front continues to work eastward, bringing showers and thunderstorms from the Northeast to the Southern Plains. An area of low pressure will also bring rain and higher elevation snow showers in the Northwest. Highs could be near record cold levels across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest.

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The Renewable-Energy Revolution Will Need Renewable Storage

More from The New Yorker: "The German word Dunkelflaute means "dark doldrums." It chills the hearts of renewable-energy engineers, who use it to refer to the lulls when solar panels and wind turbines are thwarted by clouds, night, or still air. On a bright, cloudless day, a solar farm can generate prodigious amounts of electricity; when it's gusty, wind turbines whoosh neighborhoods to life. But at night solar cells do little, and in calm air turbines sit useless. These renewable energy sources stop renewing until the weather, or the planet, turns. The dark doldrums make it difficult for an electrical grid to rely totally on renewable energy. Power companies need to plan not just for individual storms or windless nights but for Dunkelflaute that stretch for days or longer. Last year, Europe experienced a weeks-long "wind drought," and in 2006 Hawaii endured six weeks of consecutive rainy days. On a smaller scale, factories, data centers, and remote communities that want to go all-renewable need to fill the gaps. Germany is decommissioning its nuclear power plants and working hard to embrace renewables, but, because of the problem of "intermittency" in its renewable power supply, it remains dependent on fossil fuels—including imported Russian gas."

'One quarter' of US emissions since 2005 come from fossil fuels on public lands

More from CarbonBrief: "Emissions equivalent to nearly a quarter of the US total since 2005 have come from fossil fuels extracted on the nation's public lands and waters, according to recent analysis. The study, published in Climatic Change, assesses the volumes of greenhouse gases generated by extracting and burning coal, oil and natural gas from regions owned by the federal government. It also estimates how much this will change over the next decade, concluding that "minimal" reductions to these emissions are expected by 2030, the date by which the US has committed to cutting its emissions to 50-52% below 2005 levels."

More from the University of East Anglia: "A team of scientists led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) has made a major breakthrough in detecting changes in fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions more quickly and frequently. In a study published today they quantified regional fossil fuel CO2 emissions reductions during the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020-2021, using atmospheric measurements of CO2 and oxygen (O2) from the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory, on the north Norfolk coast in the UK. The estimate uses a new method for separating CO2 signals from land plants and fossil fuels in the atmosphere. Previously it has not been possible to quantify changes in regional-scale fossil fuel CO2 emissions with high accuracy and in near real-time."

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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