See
more of the story
Tuesday Weather Outlook
Tuesday will feature bright sunshine, but temperature will be cooler than average once again with readings in the 50s, which will be -5F to -10F below average for early May. Winds will still be a bit breezy, but it won't be as windy as it was on Monday.
Tuesday Weather Outlook For Minneapolis
The weather outlook for Minneapolis on Tuesday shows sunnier skies in place most of the day with highs only warming into the upper 50s by the afternoon.
Tuesday Meteograms
The meteorgrams for Minneapolis on Tuesday show temps warming from the 40s early in the day to the mid/upper 50s after the afternoon hours. Skies will generally be mostly sunny through the day. North to northwest winds will still be a bit breezy with gusts approaching 20mph, which will make it feel even cooler.
Extended Temperature Outlook
Here's the extended temperature and weather outlook over the next 5 to 7 days in the Twin Cities. Highs on through the rest of the week will be nearly -5F to -10F below average with highs only warming into the upper 50s and lower 60s. We might see a little light rain PM Wednesday, but our next best chance of rain arrives this weekend.
Spring Leaf Index
If you look close, so of your backyard trees and bushes have actually started to show signs of spring leaves emerging. According to the NPN, this is happening nearly 2 to 3 weeks earlier than normal across Minnesota and Wisconsin.
"How do you know when spring has begun? Is it the appearance of the first tiny leaves on the trees, or the first crocus plants peeping through the snow? The First Leaf and First Bloom Indices are synthetic measures of these early season events in plants, based on recent temperature conditions. These models allow us to track the progression of spring onset across the country. April 27, 2021 - Spring leaf out has arrived in all but the most northern and highest elevation parts of the country. After arriving early in southern parts of Southwest and Southeast states, cold temperatures halted the progress of spring leaf out for several days across the northern part of the Southeast, Southern Great Plains, and mid-Atlantic. Spring leaf out arrived days to weeks early across much of the northern Great Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. Spring bloom has arrived in the southern half of the country. Spring bloom is patchy, with much of Texas days to weeks late, while parts of Kansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana are days to weeks early."
Extended Temperature Outlook
Here's the ECMWF & GFS extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis over the next couple of weeks. The week ahead will see temps running below average with cool temps possibly lingering into the 2nd week of the month. Stay tuned.
8 to 14 Day Temperature Outlook
According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows cooler than average temps across the northern tier of the nation, while warmer than average temps will be found across the southeastern US.
Cool Tuesday Sunshine. Rain Returns PM Wednesday
By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas.
Happy National Weather Observers Day! Huh? Yes, there's an actual day for that, go figure.
In all seriousness, weather observers are crucial in helping relay important information to National Weather Services offices around the country. A warning might be issued by the National Weather Service if rotation is detected by radar. However, severe weather spotters are the eyes in the field and can confirm whether or not a tornado is on the ground. This confirmation can help firm up warning information and can ultimately save lives.
If interested in becoming a storm spotter, check out the Skywarn classes offered by National Weather Service being held online!
Bright sunshine will fill our skies today, but a cool northerly breeze may have you reaching for an extra layer on your late afternoon walk. Another batch of rain slides across the southern half of Minnesota late Wednesday. Sunshine returns once again Thursday and Friday, but the weekend looks a bit unsettled.
To all my fellowStar Wars fans, May the 4th be with you today!
Extended Forecast
TUESDAY: More sun. Cool breeze. Winds: NNW 10-15. High: 58.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear and quiet. Winds: NNW 5-10. Low: 38.
WEDNESDAY: Clouds increase. Chance of rain late. Winds: NNE 5-10. High: 58.
THURSDAY: Sun & cloud mix. Stray PM showers? Winds: WNW 10-15. Wake-up: 40. High: 60.
FRIDAY: Bright sunshine. Feels slightly warmer. Winds: NNE 5-10. Wake-up: 39. High: 61.
SATURDAY: Gray skies. Chance of T-Showers. Winds: ENE 10-15. Wake-up: 42. High: 58.
SUNDAY: Lingering clouds. Showers Southern MN. Winds: NNW 10-15. Wake-up: 42. High: 58.
MONDAY: Drying out. More PM sunshine. Winds: NNW 10-15. Wake-up: 41. High: 60.
This Day in Weather History
May 4th
1926: Morris goes from winter to summer temperatures in one day. The morning low was 32, followed by a high of 89.
Average High/Low for Minneapolis
May 4th
Average High: 66F (Record: 91F set in 1952)
Average Low: 45F (Record: 22F set in 1967)
Record Rainfall: 1.01" set in 1959
Record Snowfall: 2.0" set in 1890
Sunrise/Sunset Times for Minneapolis
May 2nd
Sunrise: 5:57am
Sunset: 8:22pm
Hours of Daylight: ~14 hours & 25 minutes
Daylight GAINED since yesterday: ~ 2 minutes & 38 seconds
Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 6 hours & 1 minute
Moon Phase for May 4th at Midnight
1.5 Days Since Last Quarter Moon
What's in the Night Sky?
"As the Eta Aquariid meteor shower picks up steam these next several mornings – May 3, 4 and 5, 2021 – watch for the waning moon to sweep past the ringed planet Saturn and then the giant planet Jupiter. On May 3, the moon passes due south of Saturn, to stage a conjunction, only a few hours before the moon reaches its half-illuminated last quarter phase. A little over one day after the moon-Saturn conjunction, the moon will sweep due south of the king planet Jupiter. Meanwhile, as for Neptune, although we show you its location on our chart above, it is not visible to the eye. Read more: All you need to know: Eta Aquariid meteors Here's some astronomy jargon for you. Technically speaking, the moon is said to be at dichotomy when it appears half-illuminated to us, yet at quadrature when the moon is 90 degrees from the sun on the sky's dome. The two events (dichotomy and quadrature) almost happen concurrently, at least as far as the moon is concerned, at the first or last quarter phase. A half-illuminated last quarter moon is synonymous with west quadrature, that is, with the moon being 90 degrees west of the sun. In common usage, many think of dichotomy and quadrature as synonymous. Yet did you know that a quarter moon is always a tiny bit more than 50% illuminated? It is around 50.13% illuminated at the last quarter phase, such a small amount more than 50% that the difference isn't visually discernible."
National High Temps Tuesday
The weather outlook on Tuesday shows warmer than average temps along the east coast, while folks in the Central US will be cooler than average by nearly -5F to -15F below average
Severe Threat on Tuesday
According to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, there is an ENHANCED RISK of severe weather from the Tennessee River Valley to the Lower Mississippi Valley. Large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes and heavy rainfall may be possible.
National Weather Outlook
The weather outlook through midweek shows scattered showers and storms across the Southern US. Some of the storms could be strong to severe with locally heavy rains.
Extended Precipitation Outlook
The extended precipitation outlook over the next 7 days shows widespread heavy rainfall across Central Mississippi Valley, where flooding can't be ruled.
Extended Snowfall Outlook
Here's the extended snowfall outlook into next week, areas of snowfall continuing across the spine of the Rockies.
Climate Stories
"NASA Sees Tides Under Ocean's Surface"
"Internal tides, or internal waves, can reach hundreds of feet underneath the ocean surface, but might only be a few inches high on the surface. Even though they're underwater, #NASA can see these tides from satellites. They provide #science oceanographers with a unique way to map and study the much larger internal water motion."
See more from the Futurist HERE:
"California's wildfire season is expanding as the wet season becomes compressed"
"In California, raging wildfires seem to materialize like clockwork every summer and fall, damaging property and claiming lives. What was once traditionally the "wet season" is no longer immune from bouts of dangerous fire weather. California's wildfire season is expanding, and human-induced climate change is a leading cause. Each of the past several years has featured deadly and destructive wildfires wreaking havoc across California, with an increased tendency for blazes to exhibit extreme fire behavior and an ever-growing threat to residents. About 4.2 million acres were torched in the Golden State in 2020, an area larger than Connecticut and twice as extensive as the previous worst season on record."
See more from the Washington Post HERE:
"Novel coronavirus really is seasonal, study suggests"
"Warm temperatures and tropical climates may really help reduce the spread of COVID-9, a new study suggests. The study found that places with warm temperatures and long hours of sunlight — such as countries close to the equator and those experiencing summer — had a lower rate of COVID-19 cases, compared with countries farther away from the equator and those experiencing colder weather. The findings held even after the researchers took into account other factors that could affect both the spread of COVID-19 and the number of reported cases, such as a country's level of urbanization and the intensity of COVID-19 testing. Still, the authors stress that their findings don't mean that summer weather will eliminate COVID-19; but it may give people a leg up against the disease. "Our results do not imply that the disease will vanish during summer or will not affect countries close to the equator," the authors wrote in their paper, published April 27 in the journal Scientific Reports. "Rather, the higher temperatures and more intense UV [ultraviolet] radiation in summer are likely to support public health measures to contain SARS-CoV-2," the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19."
See more from Live Science HERE: