Slow Warming Trend (and a new cloud discovery!)

Farmington EF-1. At least 3 separate tornadoes were reported last Friday (the 13th). The most violent hit Farmington, MN with winds estimated at 105 mph. Another EF-1 tornado skipped across Brooten, an EF-0 (winds under 80 mph or so) near St. Augusta, MN. More details from the Chanhassen office of the NWS here.



Asperatus Clouds. Recently researchers stumbled upon an entirely new genre of clouds - so-called "gravity clouds", very rare and not well-understood, at least not yet. An amazing example of this new cloud type here.


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

Today: Partly sunny and seasonably warm. Showers should stay south, closer to the Iowa border. Winds: S 10-15. High: 79

Tuesday night: Patchy clouds. Low: 59

Wednesday: Intervals of sun, a bit warmer. Showers far northern MN. High: near 80

Thursday: Warm and sticky with sun giving way to strong T-storms late. High: 82

Friday: Wet start, then clearing, breezy and cooler. High: 76

Saturday: Plenty of sun, a fine late-summer day. High 82

Sunday: Hazy sun, feels like summer again - slight chance of thunder (especially north). High: 87

Monday: Better chance of T-storms. High: 81


Memorable Monday. Low humidity, bright sun, truly something out of mid September with highs ranging from 72 at Alexandria to 77 at St. Cloud, 79 in the Twin Cities and 80 in Redwood Falls, just a couple degrees below average for August 16.

An abbreviated blog today (there's precious little weather anyway). Yesterday was the SAVE Golf Tournament at the (amazing) TPC Course in Blaine - thank you to everyone who came out to play (and volunteer) to raise money for this great non-profit!

It was a remarkable Monday - got a little grief for the stiff breeze (as if I have a say in the matter). September-like humidity levels, a brilliant blue sky, a rag-tag collection of popcorn cumulus clouds.

Free air.

Sun fades behind increasing clouds today, showers probably sliding off south across Iowa, possibly brushing the southernmost counties of Minnesota - another area of showers clipping far northern MN. We warm up through midweek, a better chance of showers and T-storms (some heavy, even severe) from late Thursday into Thursday night, with a clearing trend scheduled for Friday as temperatures cool off a few degrees.

The weekend? Should fall on a Saturday and Sunday.

Right now the weather looks pretty good, warming up into summer-like 80s with hazy, murky sunshine - a slight chance of T-storms up north by Sunday. Not bad at all for late August.

No widespread severe storm outbreaks, no sizzling heat. Compared to much of the planet our weather will be downright tame looking out the next week or so. Beyond that? Place your bets.

Sorry - falling asleep, slumped over a hot laptop. Longer posts later this week (when we have some actual weather to report).