Meteorological Slumber

Todd's SCTIMES Outlook for St. Cloud and all of Central Minnesota

WEDNESDAY: Sunshine continues. Comfy temps and low humidity. High: 77

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear, cool and quiet. Low: 52

THURSDAY: More blue sky, very pleasant. High: 79

FRIDAY: Another beauty. Low: 54. High 80

SATURDAY: Quiet. More sun with only a few passing clouds. Low: 56. High:80

SUNDAY: Stray PM Shower? Mostly dry. Low: 56. High: 75

MONDAY:  Isolated shower or storm early. Clearing through the day. Low: 56. High: 74

TUESDAY: Mostly sunny. Low: 50. High:69

It's a Reel (Real) Fish Tale (Tail)

Thanks to Matt Schwamberger, my cousin, for sending me this picture of a 32" northern pike that he caught over Labor Day Weekend. He said he caught it on a Rapala while trolling. Before he released it, he was able to get a picture with this near 10lbs. water wolf - Great catch Matt!

 

I have to admit, it's kind of nice not having to track severe weather or have to deal with any urgent weather news close to home, but it sure is boring. I mean, how many different ways can you say "Mostly sunny" in a 7 day forecast? I'm pretty sure local meteorologists are twiddling their thumbs too, wondering what to talk about. The only real weather that is of any interest is happening several hundred miles to our south and east, where the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee continues to slowly inch northeastward. Lee was responsible for drought busting rain, exceeding 12" and 35 tornadoes through the long Labor Day Weekend. Power was knocked out for most of Birmingham Alabama Monday, canceling school on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Texas is dealing with some of the driest conditions in recorded history with raging wildfires; considered to be the worst fire season in history. Over 20K fires have been reported since last November, consuming nearly 3.5 million acres (roughly the size of Connecticut). Wild weather will be found no where close to home anytime soon. Sunshine and pleasant temps continue the remainder of the week, now worries from the weather office - enjoy! Todd Nelson.

 Fall Color Update

I know it's a little ahead of schedule, but a colleague of mine, Susie Martin, and I were chatting about how much we enjoy Minnesota's North Shore during the Fall, so I thought I would give you an update on where we stand for fall colors this year. The Minnesota DNR runs a fabulous website that is updated regularly with recent news, fall color updates in specific locations along with pictures that you can add to if snap a few keepers.  

Check out the site HERE 

 

So far, it looks pretty green out there, but with the recent cool nights in the northeastern part of the state, you can bet that the colors will begin to show up sooner rather than later. For the 2nd night in a row, Embarrass Minnesota dropped to 26F, which is not all that uncommon, but it's kind of a shocker when 10s and 20s start showing up across the state as we head towards fall. By the way, fall colors begin to peak around mid to late September across the northern part of the state.

Paul Sundberg Does It Again!

Paul Sundberg snapped another fantastic shot from northern Minnesota a couple of weeks ago from the Mountain Lake Overlook in the BWCA, where it too looks very green. However, most of the trees in this picture are pine, which typically stay green, but there are probably a few pine and maple mixed in there, which typically turn red, orange and yellow. Paul said he will be out and about a lot this fall snapping pictures of Mother Nature at her best. 

You can always check out Paul's latest pictures on his website HERE:

Weather Set Up
The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee are slowly moving towards the northeast and because of this slow movement, it is blocking just about everything other weather feature across the nation. The weather where you are probably hasn't changed all that much over the last couple of days and it probably won't chance much over the next few days.

Remnants of Lee

The remnants of Lee have have really been pumping out a lot of rain, take a look at the rainfall reports from a few selected cities. The biggest rainfall report I saw through Tuesday was in Holdon, LA as 15.43"

 

Lee Also Spawns Tornadoes

The other aspect of Lee has been the number of tornadoes produced since the Labor Day Weekend. Over the holiday weekend itself, 35 tornadoes were reported. Damage and power outages were reported in Alabama and Georgia on Monday. In fact, nearly 200,000 customers were without power at one point on Monday, most of which were from Birmingham, AL - power remained off on Tuesday, which led to the cancellation of school on Tuesday.

Katia Lurks in the Atlantic

Katia became the first Atlantic based hurricane this season to reach category 4 strength this season. This very formidable storm, thankfully, looks to be tracking east of the U.S. through the rest of the week/weekend, but strong rip currents are still possible along the eastern seaboard.

Hurricane Katia Forecast Track

Tropical Depression 14 Develops

Take a look at what the National Hurricane Center is tracking now. Tropical Depression 14 is taking more of a curious track than Katia did. It appears that 14 will become Maria and possibly develop into a hurricane near the Caribbean by the weekend. I a little more concerned with this storm because it is taking more of a southerly track and could very well impact the U.S. if the current forecast holds.

Raging Wildfires Continue

As warm and breezy conditions continue in the Deep South, wildfires continue to rage. The latest information coming out of Texas is astounding as the worst fire season on record continues.

Devastating Texas Fire Continues

With little interruption and little containment, the devastating Bastrop county wildfire continues

Thanks for checking in, have a good rest of the week!Meteorologist Todd Nelson