A Definite Sinking Feeling

* Much of Minnesota waking up to a frost and freeze. If you missed out on freezing temperatures overnight you'll probably be in the luck the rest of May.

* 4.5" in Duluth Friday night, the most May snow in 86 years. Hibbing picks up 5". It's all melted by now.

* Today: nicest day in sight, enough sun for highs near 60 with light winds.

* 1" of rain possible Monday night and Tuesday, possibly mixing with wet snow during the day Tuesday.

First off, give your mom a hug for me. Wish her a happy Mother's Day. We are blessed with a world of amazing moms - I was very lucky to have a mom who loved me, accepted me, encouraged me. It's the toughest job on the planet - the most important job on the planet, strange it doesn't come with an instruction manual. Anyway - I hope you can spend part of your Sunday celebrating mom, spending time with the people you care about.


Hitting Bottom. I will be spending quality time with a nice (Progressive) insurance claims agent and a salvage operation, trying to raise my boat from the bottom of Lake Minnetonka. Those crazy winds a few days ago? Turns out 8 foot crests overwhelmed my boat's bilge pump, and my 33 foot Regal is now resting on the bottom of Tonka Bay. At some point I'll be able to look back on this day and laugh - but probably not today. I tell my 2 (amazing) boys not to get upset about "things"; as long as no one got hurt, no physical or emotional trauma, how bad can it really be, right? Mom taught me to keep things in perspective, but I feel like such a doofus right about now. Act of God? Maybe. Anything I could have done to prevent this mini-disaster? Probably. Hindsight is always 20/20. A few days ago winds gusted over 50 mph - I've never seen waves as big as the ones that punished the shoreline (and my hapless boat [anchor] last week). The ironic twist to this story: I haven't even been out on the boat - not once since it was delivered. The winds/waves were too strong. Possibly the shortest boating season - ever.

At some point as you scroll down through the photos of the aftermath of the recent sinking of the aptly named "Low Pressure" you may be overcome with schadenfreude - hey, I don't blame you one bit. The reason I'm even posting this? Full disclosure: for better or worse, I'm trying to share everything with you.

Note to self:

1). Back into the dock. Got it.

2). Invest in a proper lift. Check.

3). Next time invest in a kayak or a row boat, something more my speed.

4). No more big-boy toys. Time to grow the heck up. Give the money to another charity, something that won't sink.



May Freeze. Hope you covered up your flowers - much of the area is waking up to a frost, even a freeze (defined as 3 hours or more colder than 28 F, usually cold enough to kill off most annuals). Yes, that old adage, "wait until Memorial Day, or at least Mother's Day - to plant your annuals", rings true this year.

Oh yeah, the weather: today will be a fine day, for brunch, a bike ride, a walk around the neighborhood, boat salvage operations - whatever you have on your to-do list. Great weather for the Race For The Cure festivities going on at MOA to raise money for breast cancer research. Expect ample sun, highs well up in the 50s to near 60 by late afternoon, a very light breeze. Great boating weather. If you're out on the lake and you hear loud screams, wails of anguish, you'll know who it is.

We may all be complaining by Tuesday, as cold air changes the rain over to snow AGAIN! Models are hinting at close to an inch of rain Monday night into Tuesday, with the best chance of a changeover to wet snow coming SOUTH of the Twin Cities sometime Tuesday. I doubt we'll see any accumulation during the daylight hours - ground temperatures are still too warm, the sun's radiation keeping roads wet until after sunset, when a few roads could become slippery. The timing is tricky - once again we may miss out on accumulating snow in the metro (I pray). But be ready. The sun returns by Wednesday, a warming trend as we sail into the end of the week.

Not Again. NAM snowfall prediction. The best chance of a changeover to wet snow comes during the day Tuesday, as the entire column of air above Minnesota cools down. Any accumulation would probably come after dark Tuesday evening. Roads should be wet, most snowflakes melting on contact with a relatively mild ground. But after dark on Tuesday I could see a few slushy patches out there. Good grief. I can't believe I'm writing this on May 9. The summer solstice is less than 6 weeks away.

Call it what you will: payback, a test, a scourge. At least we don't live in Nashville, where locals are cleaning up from a 1 in 500 year epic flood. We don't have to (directly) worry about oil slicks or puffing volcanoes. Perspective. I'll try to remember that today, as I pull my boat off the bottom of the lake. Give you mom my best. Ask her if she wants to buy a boat - cheap.

What's Wrong With This Picture. "Paul, this is normal. The boat just rides low in the water. Very low."

Good Samaritan. That's one of my best friends, Todd Frostad (business partner in WeatherNation, Smart-Energy and Singular Logic) who came to my rescue late Saturday, after I discovered I had a little problem down on the dock. We tried to pump out the water, but the design of the boat made it impossible for us to make any progress. We'll need a barge to get this thing off the bottom of the lake. Check eBay soon for a couple of gently used (really clean) engines. Thanks also goes out to Gabriel Jabbour, owner of Tonka Bay Marina, who scrambled on a Saturday evening and tried to make a bad situation better.

Hey, mom said there would be days like this. No deaths. No injuries. Only minor emotional trauma. Now, about that hole in the water that you pour money into....

Hoping for a better day - for all of us.


Paul's SC Times Outlook for St. Cloud and all of central Minnesota

Today: Partly sunny and pleasant. Light winds. Winds: SE 3-8. High: 57

Tonight: Clouds increase, not as cold. Low: 38

Monday: Rain arrives by afternoon, becoming heavy Monday night. High: 54

Tuesday: Rain, possibly mixing with wet snow. High: 43 (falling into the 30s).

Wednesday: Wet start, some PM sun breaking through. High: 56

Thursday: Feels like spring again, mostly cloudy with a stray shower. High: 62

Friday: More clouds than sun, slight chance of a shower or T-shower. High: 63

Saturday: Finally - a spell of fine, May weather. Partly cloudy with a passing T-shower. High: 68