Updraft: June 21, 2011 Archive

Scattered rain today; Summer solstice at 12:16pm; AZ fires rage

Posted at 9:10 AM on June 21, 2011 by Paul Huttner

It's understandable if you're wondering what season it is today in Minnesota.

The weather maps look like April or May, the calendar says spring until 12:16pm, when the summer solstice officially occurs and we begin summer in the northern hemisphere. Talk about confusing.

Early AM storms bring heavy rain & high winds:

It was a loud awakening for many Minnesotans early this morning. A wave of strong thunderstorms rolled through from south to north with lightning, loud thunder and tree cracking wind gusts.

Dead tree branch stuck into ground after high winds last night at weather lab.

Here are some rainfall totals from early this morning.

:ID LOCATION TEMP TEMP PCPN
EAU : EAU CLAIRE WI : 74 / 63 / 0.39
MSP : MINNEAPOLIS MN : 77 / 65 / 1.01
STC : ST CLOUD MN : 71 / 57 / 0.35
AXN : ALEXANDRIA MN : 67 / 56 / 0.23
MIC : CRYSTAL MN : 77 / 63 / 0.78
FCM : FLYING CLOUD MN : 77 / 65 / 0.81
RWF : REDWOOD FALLS MN : 73 / 62 / 0.95
STP : ST PAUL MN : 77 / 64 / M

IN MINNESOTA
:
BTHM5: BLUE EARTH MN : DH0600/ 88 / 62 / 0.65
CFAM5: CANNON FALLS MN : DH0600/ 71 / 62 / 0.95
CLSM5: CARLOS MN : DH0639/ M / M / 0.21
MPXM5: CHANHASSEN WFO : DH0700/ 76 / 63 / 0.61
CHNM5: CHANHASSEN MN : DH0700/ M / M / 0.60
CHKM5: CHASKA NW MN : DH0600/ 76 / 61 / 0.63
FIRM5: FAIRMONT MN : DH0700/ 77 / 63 / 1.73
FBTM5: FARIBAULT MN : DH0700/ 73 / 63 / 1.12
FORM5: FOREST LAKE MN : DH0700/ 78 / 58 / 0.67
HSTM5: HASTINGS L/D MN : DH0600/ 74 / 62 / 0.80
JORM5: JORDAN MN : DH0530/ 74 / 62 / 0.69
KIMM5: KIMBALL MN : DH0601/ 69 / 53 / 0.77
LSTM5: LESTER PRAIRIE MN : DH0700/ M / M / 0.95
LNGM5: LONG PRAIRIE MN : DH0600/ 67 / 53 / 0.13
MNPM5: MINNEAPOLIS MN : DH0600/ M / M / 0.86
LSAM5: LWR ST ANTHONY MN : DH0600/ 76 / 64 / 1.25
RDWM5: RED WING L/D MN : DH0600/ 73 / 63 / 0.93
REWM5: REDWOOD FALLS MN : DH0500/ 73 / 60 / 1.03
RCEM5: RICE MN : DH0700/ 69 / 54 / 0.33
RFDM5: ROCKFORD MN : DH0645/ M / M / 0.94
SCSM5: ST CLOUD ST MN : DH0600/ M / M / 0.41
SFDM5: SPRINGFIELD MN : DH0641/ M / M / 1.10
VCTM5: VICTORIA MN : DH0700/ M / M / 0.66
WACM5: WACONIA MN : DH0645/ M / M / 0.89
:
: IN WISCONSIN
:
HOLW3: HOLCOMBE WI : DH0700/ 72 / 58 / 0.65
JIMW3: JIM FALLS WI : DH0630/ 76 / 59 / 0.42
ROBW3: ROBERTS WI : DH0715/ M / M / 0.92

Doppler storm total rainfall estimates show the heaviest zone of rain along the I-90 corridor where as much as 2" may have fallen locally.

Scattered rain & thunder today:

The storm system that rammed early thunder in today is spinning near Omaha today.

The system will move northeast and scattered storms will redevelop ahead of the storm in southern Minnesota. While the most widspread rain will linger in western & northern Minnesota, additional showers & thudnerstoms may pop up anytime today in the south, including the metro.

Slight severe risk:

The SPC has put today's slight risk for severe weather across southeast Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Twin Cities metro is on the northern edge of the severe risk area today.

The low pressure system is in no big hurry to move on. The system will linger into Thursday brining more occasional rounds of showers and a few T-Storms to the region.

Rainfall totals my exceed 2" in many spots by Thursday.

Flood woes continue:

The additional rainfall is causing rivers to rise again. Flood warnings are flying for the Minnesota River again.

The rising water could again threaten Highway 101 in Shakopee by Sunday. That could again affect thousands of commuters in the southwest metro.

1027 PM CDT MON JUN 20 2011

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR
THE MINNESOTA RIVER NEAR JORDAN.
* FROM TUESDAY MORNING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
* AT 9:15 PM MONDAY THE STAGE WAS 24.8 FEET.
* MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 25.0 FEET.
* FORECAST...RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE BY TUESDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE
TO RISE TO NEAR 27.0 FEET BY SUNDAY.
* IMPACT...AT 27.0 FEET...WATER BEGINS ENCROACHING ON HIGHWAY 101 AT SHAKOPEE. THE ROAD WILL BE CLOSED IF WATER RISES MUCH HIGHER.
* IMPACT...AT 26.7 FEET...THE BRIDGE AT SCOTT COUNTY ROAD 9 AND CARVER
COUNTY ROAD 11/JONATHAN CARVER PARKWAY WILL BE CLOSED.
* IMPACT...AT 25.0 FEET...LOW LYING AREAS AND SOME ROADS ALONG THE
RIVER BEGIN TO FLOOD AND PRIVATE SANITARY SEWERS MAY EXPERIENCE
PROBLEMS

Summer arrives at 12:16pm today!

It may not feel like it today, but summer officially begins (astronomically) at 12:16 pm today! That's when the sun will settle over the Tropic of Cancer at about 23.5 degrees north latitude. That's just south of Key West, FL for those of you keeping track. The sun will be just about directly overhead in Key West around noon today.

In Minnesota the sun will be about 68.5 degrees above the horizon at noon today over the metro.

Today marks the farthest northward point on the sun's annual journey into the northern hemisphere summer.

It is interesting to note that small variations in earth's orbit and axis change the precise point of the summer solstice each year. It has been shifting ever so slightly south the past few years.

Carretera 83 (Vía Corta) Zaragoza-Victoria, Km 27+800. In all crossings of the Tropic of Cancer with Mexican federal highways, this is the only place where the latitude is marked with absolute precision and where the annual drift between 2005 and 2010 can be appreciated. (Image credit from Wikipedia Roberto González)

Arizona fires await the summer monsoon:

Smoke fills the sky and fire is in the air in Arizona these days. The largest fire in AZ history (Wallow Fire) continues to burn largely unchecked in Arizona's White Mountains and into New Mexico. Meanwhile the Monument Fire roarard out of the Huachuca Mountains into Sierra Vista over the weekend in southeat Arizona.

Check out this time lapse video of the Monument Fire as it was stoked in the Huachuca Mountain over the weekend.

The video shows an hour's worth of time as the family prepares to evacuate their home in Sierra Vista. You can see the family loading belongings into their truck as the fire threatens.

Kind of puts our wet 1st day of summer in perspective I think.

The hot dry Arizona weather is setting records. There has ben no rain in Tucson since April 9th. That's a string of 72 consecutive days!

I spent 9 years in Arozona covering weather and wildfire season. This time of year, the fires burn largely unchecked. Fire crews battle to save towns and homes with back burns, but they really don't try to "put out" the fires for the most part. It's just to difficult with massive fires and temps near 100 degrees.

Most of the fires in Arizona will burn until the summer monsoon arrives in early July. The annual event is marked by a mid-level wind shift from the west into the southeast. The shift brings moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California into Arizona.

The moisture generates higher humidity, and provides fuel for nearly daily thunderstorms which often build over Arizona's mountains then come rolling into the valleys with thunder and heavy rains in the afternoon.

Microbursts with damaging winds are also common during the monsoon.

The word monsoon comes form the Arabic word "mausim" meaning season. About half of Tucson's annual rainfall (6"+) comes during the monsoon, which runs from early July to mid September 30th.

When I was in Tucson, I was part of a team of meteorologists who worked to come up with a definition for when the monsoon begins. The formula we arrived at was to chart the first 3 days in a row where the average dew point in Tucson was 54 degrees or higher. The first of those 3 days marked the annual beginning of the summer monsoon.

The definition has changed over the years, but the annual arrival of the North American Monsoon in the southwest marks a time of celebration. The seemingly endless unbroken string of hot, sunny dry days over 100 is over, and the arrival of precious rainfall, a greening landscape and cooler cloud filled skies is a welcome relief!

PH