Updraft: September 29, 2010 Archive

September's finest

Posted at 5:00 PM on September 29, 2010 by Paul Huttner
Filed under: Fall, Fall color

Wednesday had to be the best day of the fall for many Minnesotans...so far.

Fall color popping along Ridgewood Road in Minnetonka.
Photos by Paul Huttner. (Click for bigger images)

Plenty of sunshine graced (most of) Minnesota's skies today, with temperatures shooting up into the 70s in many areas. The exception is Minnesota's Arrowhead and North Shore, where clouds and spotty showers roll through with a cold front.

Anatomy of a cold front:

Check out this high resolution MODIS terra satellite image from the University of Wisconsin Wednesday.

You can clearly see the tail of clouds riding along with a cold front as it approaches the Twin Cities in mid-afternoon. If you look closely, you can notice the Minnesota River looks quite swollen southwest of the Twin Cities. This is the flood in action as viewed from space.

Family of fronts:

Wednesday's cool front is the first in a family of fronts that will sweep colder air into Minnesota by this weekend.

Many locations, including the Twin Cities may see our first frost of the fall by Sunday morning.

And now for your Weather Lab gratuitous sunset shot of the week.

Classic sunset over Gale Island on Lake Minnetonka Monday.

PH