Updraft: June 5, 2012 Archive

Where to see Venus transit; Falling rivers; Growing thunder threat

Posted at 9:00 AM on June 5, 2012 by Paul Huttner
Filed under: Astronomy

85+ degrees Mainly sunny & warm again today

7 foot drop in the St. Croix River since Saturday

Growing thunder threatWednesday & especially Thursday night

Weekend "Hot front" temps near 90 degrees

Tropical dew points in the 70s this weekend

100 degrees - heat index this weekend?

Severe risk in north & central Minnesota this weekend (and maybe the metro)

Source: Twin Cities NWS

Venus transit begins at 5:03pm:

Source: space.com

If you want to safely see today's Venus transit of the sun here are some options.

U of M in Minneapolis:

Join us for the 2012 Transit of Venus

On June 5th the planet Venus will pass between the Earth and the Sun. In Minneapolis we will be able to view this as a small dot crossing the Sun as the Sun is setting. The Institute for Astrophysics will be hosting a public talk on the transit as well as solar telescopes for safe observing of the event. This will be the last chance to view a transit of Venus until 2117 so don't miss this opportunity! It is important to remember that one should NEVER look at the Sun without proper protection. We are happy to provide telescopes with special filters designed to make viewing this event a safe and pleasant experience. We're hosting a special Public Viewing on Tuesday June 5th, 2012 which will include an invited talk on the transit.

4:00pm-5:00pm - Tate 166

Public Talk

U professor Dr. Terry Jones will be giving an informational talk about the transit just before the event begins.

5:00pm-9:00pm - Tate 450/Roof

Telescope Observing

Telescopes with proper filters for safe viewing will be provided on the roof of the building for the public to look through and see the event. Take the south elevator to floor 4S to reach the roof access through room 450. In the event of cloud cover we will also be streaming live video of the event from Hawaii.

Eisenhower Observatory Viewing Party - Hopkins

Enjoy!

Rivers take a tumble:

What goes up must come down. The law of gravity applies to rivers too.

After rising 7 feet in May, the St. Croix River has (thankfully) fallen 6 feet since Saturday at St. Croix Falls.

Source: Twin Cities NWS/Hydrology

The Crow and Minnesota are down around 2 feet and expected to continue dropping fast the next few days.

Minnehaha Creek has also dropped rapidly the past few days.

Source: USGS

Thunder threat gradually increases:

A potent upper low pressure system spinning near Seattle will begin to nudge east toward Minnesota late this week.

Ahead of the system, a stronger southerly flow will generate a warm front...and that may spark some (especially overnight) showers & T-Storms the next few days.

We'll see a slight increase in T-Storms chances Wednesday into Thursday, but it looks like the best chance of an overnight MCS rumbling through Minnesota with high winds & heavy rains may be Thursday night into Friday morning.

Source: NOAA/wxcaster.com

Weekend outlook: Amazon heat with a chance of thunder

A weekend "hot front" will push through Minnesota Saturday. Strong southerly winds will feed in an increasingly hot and very humid air mass. This should bring the highest dew points of so far this summer season to Minnesota.

Source: ISU

We're talking dew points in the 70s...and when you combine that type of jungle heat with temps near 90 we could see some heat index readings approaching 100 degrees Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

If you're hosting a graduation party this weekend have some cool drinks at the ready, and AC may be a nice option. Rain chances will favor northern Minnesota, but we can't rule out some thunder in the metro this weekend.

There is also the threat for some severe storms this weekend, especially in northern and central Minnesota. (What would a summer weekend be without an SPC "risk area" anyway?)

Source: NOAA/SPC

We are entering the "climatological peak" of severe weather season in Minnesota in the next 30 days.

Source: Twin Cities NWS

Stay tuned as we tweak the forecast approaching this weekend!

PH