This week will be postcard perfect

The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 23, 2024 at 8:21PM

I’m trying to get my little sister to move to Minnesota. She loves visiting, but Joan Beth had a bad experience a few Christmases ago. “I was scraping frost off the INSIDE of our windshield!” She has Minnesota winter PTSD.

I have tried reasoning with her. Invest in a proper wardrobe and good boots. Find a place near light rail to have more commuting options on the bad-weather days. Book a few warm, sunny getaways in January and February. And March. Maybe April, too. She remains unconvinced. Not giving up.

This week is like living in a fall postcard, with sunshine and 70s spilling into early October. No big, sloppy storms or harsh Canadian smacks are brewing (yet), so enjoy the weather honeymoon while you can. Boating well into October again this year? Probably. But my gut is telling me a colder, snowier winter is probably inevitable. Payback for a wimpy winter last year. No El Niño to save us this time around.

In weather news elsewhere, all eyes are on “Helene,” forecast to hit Florida north of Tampa as a Category 3+ storm.

about the writer

Paul Douglas

Columnist

Paul Douglas is a nationally-respected meteorologist, with 40 years of broadcast television and radio experience. He provides daily print and online weather services for the Star Tribune.

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