Updraft: May 1, 2008 Archive

42 hours

Posted at 7:23 AM on May 1, 2008 by Paul Huttner

It's been said there really is no bad weather, just different kinds of good weather.

Sometimes a cool rain can ruin your outdoor event, but be a godsend to farmers during a dry spell. I think many Minnesotans are having a tough time finding the "good" in the near term forecast.

It looks like our next weather system will bring us 42 hours of "bad" weather. From around 6pm tonight, to noon Saturday we can expect wind and rain at times. The peak of the storm will come Friday it appears. One computer forecast model is touting a steady wind driven rain most of Friday and Friday night. One model cranks out the possibility of an inch or more of rain for the metro. Another says closer to half an inch. There may be just enough cold air mixing in to see a few wet snowflakes as the system winds down Saturday morning.

Twin Cities weather story

Things improve dramatically by Sunday. In fact we may see sunshine and lighter winds as early as late Saturday afternoon.

Look for a nicer stretch of weather starting Sunday and lasting into next week. More sun, lighter winds and temps in the upper 60's to near 70 will feel great after our "good" weather early this weekend.

PH

Spring cleaning

Posted at 1:26 PM on May 1, 2008 by Craig Edwards

On the most recent MPR podcast, Jet Streaming, the weather geeks hosted allergist Dr. Richard Seveum. This interview coincides with National Air Quality week and gave us a chance to discuss the emergence of allergy season. Check out this informing program for more details.

How's the air quality today?

As the foliage blossoms, resulting from warmer temperatures, along comes the pollen and ragweed. There is a website to monitor the daily conditions across the nation and in major metropolitan areas. At least twenty-five percent of the population suffers from hay fever.

In the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours much of Minnesota will experience a flushing, so to speak, as locally heavy rain develops. Some portions of the state could get cleansed with more than an inch of rain. Already well saturated soils are likely to remain quite soggy into early next week.

Impending precipitation potential
CE