Saturday, June 20, 2015

Record 1.55" Rain Saturday at St. Cloud - Welcome Summer Solstice - Happy Father's Day!

82 F. high in St. Cloud Saturday.
79 F. average high on June 20.
83 F. high on June 20, 2014.



1.55" rain fell yesterday at St. Cloud, a new 24-hour record. Old record for June 20: 1.3" in 1926.
.43" rain fell yesterday morning in the Twin Cities.

4.34" rain so far in June in St. Cloud.
2.78" normal June rainfall, to date.

June 20, 1992: Very cold across the north. Temperatures dropped to 26 at Embarass and Hayward, WI. The cold spot was 24 at Brimson.



Fatherly Wisdom

"Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try” said Homer Simpson. Today, as we celebrate our dads, I want to give a shout-out to my dear friend and father.

I have no one to blame for my meteorology career but him. In high school he left newspaper and magazine clippings about the weather next to my cereal bowl. Before heading off to college he said "Son, you need to go here to get your diploma, but most of what you learn will be through trial and error. Go out there and start making big mistakes."

Thanks Dad. I've taken your advice to heart. That's what an entrepreneur does. Build-measure-learn, to quote Eric Ries in "The Lean Startup". There's no manual. You make it up as you. If you're lucky you have a father who makes the journey a little easier.

Embarrass, Minnesota woke up to frost Friday morning. And today is the summer solstice, the best day of the year to get a sunburn. The sun should be out today with mid-80s. More T-showers bubble up Monday, again Friday, but skies clear by next weekend.

The drought is over, severe weather has been minimal and the heat is almost tolerable. If this keeps up I may even be able to go out in public!


An Irritable Atmosphere. Saturday evening's 1 KM visible satellite imagery (NOAA and AerisWeather) showed the clearing line behind early morning storms, followed by strong to severe storms flaring up over the eastern Dakotas, jet stream winds sweeping a thin veil of cirrus from the tops of those thunderheads hundreds of miles downwind.

Tropical Reincarnation? Check out the GFS solution, which shows the remants of Tropical Storm Bill reforming off the coast of New England late Sunday into Monday as it passes back over warm Gulf Stream water. If it happens (which I doubt) would it remain Bill or move on to the next name, Claudette? The core of the heat remains south of Minnesota; we just get a few fleeting tastes (of 80s, not 90s) into next week.

A Warm-Enough Front. Hey, after the winters we endure I'm not apologizing for highlighting days when highs are within striking distance of 80F. We've earned these lake-worthy days. European guidance above is running a few degrees too cool; I could see mid-80s today; showers and T-showers keep us a few degrees cooler Monday. Right now Friday looks like the wettest day of the week with next Sunday the better day to be outside (warmer, sunnier and drier statewide). MSP meteogram; Weatherspark.

Crops In Great Shape. Dr. Mark Seeley takes a look at soil moisture, which is now in very good condition across most of Minnesota. The drought is over. Here's an excerpt from this week's edition of Minnesota WeatherTalk: "Early planting and nearly seasonal temperatures with continued adequate rainfall across the state have promoted very good prospects for Minnesota crops this year.  With 77 percent of the MN corn crop in good to excellent condition and 74 percent of the soybean crop in good to excellent condition, crop producers and consultants are pleased with the growing season so far.  Soil moisture storage is adequate in most areas of the state.  Farmers are trying to catch up on weed control with cultivation or use of post-emergence herbicides. Some areas of the state have already received over 4 inches of rainfall this month, including 5.68" at Melrose, 4.45" at Sartell, 4.35" at Waseca, 4.28" at Owatonna, 4.06" at Austin, 4.47" at Caledonia, 4.28" at Zumbrota, and 5.11" at Theilman..."

The Flood of 2012, Three Years Later. The Duluth News Tribune has a good summary of the historic flood that struck Duluth in late June, 2012, and recovery efforts since the deluge. Here's the intro: "Three years ago today, June 19, storm clouds billowed into the skies above the Northland and rain started to fall. Over and over and over, well into the next day, downpours soaked Duluth, Superior, Carlton County, the North Shore and surrounding areas. Streets turned into streams, and streams turned into torrents. Homes and businesses were ruined, and lives of many Northland residents were upended — but, fortunately, not lost..."

Photo credit above: "Onlookers take in the scene of a car that fell into a huge sinkhole on Skyline Parkway at 9th Avenue East in Duluth after the June 2012 flood. Rainwaters undercut the ground beneath to create the weak spot in the pavement. The car's owners were from Seattle and came to Duluth to run Grandma's Marathon and visit family." (File photo / Bob King).

May Continues Trend of Record Hot 2015. Following up on the story above, Climate Central puts the monthly temperature departures into perspective: "...What is particularly notable about this year’s records is that how much they are beating the previous ones by, Jessica Blunden, a climate scientist with ERT, Inc., at NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information, said in an email. The growing El Niño in the Pacific Ocean is playing a role in driving that record heat, as the climate phenomenon, most notably characterized by warmer-than-average tropical ocean waters, tends to boost global temperatures. “I wouldn't be at all surprised if the margin of breaking records for the year-to-date continues to grow, especially if El Niño becomes as strong as some experts are predicting,” Blunden said..."

Image credit above: "Map that shows how temperatures around the globe varied from average during the period from January through May 2015." Credit: NOAA.

NOAA Drones Drop In On Hurricanes. GCN has the story - I need a few of these to patrol the neighborhood, come to think of it. Here's the intro: "Just in time for this year’s hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be upgrading its Coyote drones for storm research and climate data collection. Raytheon will deliver three unmanned aerial systems with improved communications and integrated metorologic sensors for storm research. The Coyote unmanned aircraft, at only three feet long and between 12 and 14 pounds, can carry either electro-optical or infrared cameras and data transmitter payloads. They are capable of speeds between 60 and 85 knots and a ceiling of 20,000 feet..." (Image credit: NOAA).

Clear Victory: A Deep Dive Into The World's Most Prestigious Water-Tasting Competition. BuzzFeed has the honors; here's the set-up to this curious story: "For 25 years, the self-proclaimed “Oscars of water” have been held in the tiny West Virginia town of Berkeley Springs. At a pivotal moment when the bottled water industry is booming but the national narrative is all about drought and environmental ruin, the stakes for perfecting the taste of nothingness have never been higher..."

Animation credit: Jon Premosch / BuzzFeed News.

The Perils of Too Much Free Time. Actually, I may have to give this a try. Details at Huffington Post.

"Never take liquor into the bedroom.
Don’t stick anything in your ears.
Be anything but an architect.
Live in a nice country rather than a powerful one. Power makes everybody crazy.
Get somebody to teach you to play a musical instrument."
- Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)




TODAY: Warm sunshine. Dew point: 59. Winds: West 10. High: 85

SUNDAY NIGHT: Clouds increase, late shower or T-shower. Low: 67

MONDAY: Few showers and T-showers likely. High: 82

TUESDAY: Plenty of sunshine, pleasant with a slight dip in humidity. Wake-up: 63. High: 80

WEDNESDAY: Less sun, stray T-storms pop up. Wake-up: 64. High: 82

THURSDAY: Sunny, just about perfect. Dew point: 58. Wake-up: 63. High: 79

FRIDAY: Another wave of T-storms. Wake-up: 61. High: 76

SATURDAY: More sun, late-day T-shower risk. Wake-up: 58. High: 78


Climate Stories...

Analyzing The Pope's Encyclical on Climate Change. Here's an excerpt of an interesting analysis from Harvard's Kennedy School: "...Having the pope say “Climate change is a major problem: Let’s acknowledge the work of all the good scientists around the world saying we are causing this problem, and that we need to act” is really important. On the policy approach, I was puzzled to find such a strong opposition to using market-based approaches like cap and trade. Last year at the United Nations General Assembly, heads of state came together to talk about climate change. We had an announcement on carbon pricing signed on by more than 70 countries, more than 1,000 businesses — reflecting this emerging view of both those in public policy and those using the technologies in the business world — that pricing carbon is the way to get us off of fossil fuels, to create that incentive for the technologies that will allow us to still enjoy the level of economic development that we aspire to, without having an adverse impact on the climate..."

Pope Makes Climate Change An Issue for GOP Presidential Candidates. NPR reports; here's an excerpt: "...We've also been tracking news of Pope Francis this week. The pope released an encyclical, a letter; it strongly admonished the actions of humans, especially in wealthy nations, for warming the planet. He wanted to pressure political leaders around the world before a climate conference. In the U.S., his letter has put Republicans running for president on the defensive..." (File photo: Reuters).

A Test of Faith: Pope Francis Puts 2016 GOP Hopefuls On The Defensive. The Washington Post reports on the created by the latest encyclical on the environment and climate change, and whether Catholic GOP presidential contenders will pay attention. Here's a clip: "...Until recently, Democrats usually were the ones to feel the most heat. But now it is the turn of Republicans, thanks to Pope Francis, the charismatic and activist pontiff who is set to visit the United States in September. The pope’s 192-page call to action Thursday, which blames the burning of fossil fuels and human activity for climate change, is the latest example of how Francis has become part of the political debate in a season in which no fewer than five Catholics may seek the Republican presidential nomination..."

Photo credit above: "In this May 21, 2015 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Pope Francis' call for dramatic action on climate change drew a round of shrugs from congressional Republicans on Thursday, while many of the party's presidential candidates ignored it entirely. Boehner, a Catholic who invited the pontiff to address Congress later this year, said the pope is not afraid to challenge thinking on various issues. "I respect his right to speak out on these important issues," Boehner said, but he demurred when asked whether Francis' views, made public in an encyclical released Thursday, might spur legislative action by the Republicans who run Congress." (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File).

Climate Change and Moral Responsibility. Here's a snippet of an Op-Ed at The New York Times: "... Basic human rights — such as access to safe water, clean air and sufficient food — should be available to everyone without distinction or discrimination. Because of our faith in God as creator, redeemer and sustainer, we have a mission to protect nature as well as human beings. The obligation of all human beings is to work together for a better world, one in which all human beings can flourish; our Christian vocation is to proclaim the Gospel inclusively and comprehensively..."

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