In the 1500s, houses had thatched roofs of thick straw. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all of the pets — dogs, cats (and mice, rats and bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained, roofs got slippery, and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off. Thus, the saying: "It's raining cats and dogs."
That sure summed up Thursday's deluge, when a record 2.37 inches fell at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Doppler estimated more than 5 inches in parts of western Wisconsin. There was a remarkable amount of water in the air for mid-September.
In spite of this morning's jacket-worthy breeze, I see a warm-weather bias spilling into at least early October. The 70s return next week, maybe 80s next weekend. The federal Global Forecast System's guidance shows an almost August-like bubble of warm, stagnant air over the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. into the first week of October. In previous years we've seen flurries and hard freezes by the third week of September. Expect the unexpected, right?
