Updraft Category Archive: Fire weather

Massive Arizona smoke plume reaches Minnesota

Posted at 5:09 PM on June 8, 2011 by Paul Huttner (1 Comments)
Filed under: Fire weather

The smoke plume from a massive wildfire in Arizona has reached Minnesota.

The huge blaze, named the Wallow Fire, has torched nearly 400,000 acres in eastern Arizona's White Mountains near the tiny resort towns of Alpine and Greer.

Latest info on the Wallow Fire. (Click images to enlarge)

The fire is currently the largest fire in the nation, and the 2nd largest fire in Arizona history.

The Wallow Fire began May 29th, and has exploded in coverage over the past two weeks due to high winds over 30mph at times and low humidity under 15%.

You can check out the fire's progression from day one on this interactive map from azcentral.com.

The massive smoke plume form the blaze has reached Minnesota. Check out these high resolution visible satellite images of the plume on it's way to Minnesota. (Courtesy Duluth NWS)

MODIS Aqua satellite image shows Arizona plume tracking over Albuquerque, MN.

Plume tracks northeast reaching Minnesota

Wider elevated, dispersed plume reaches Minnesota and the Great Lakes.

Smoke has been observed in northern Minnesota according to the Duluth NWS.

Smoke From Arizona Fires Spreads Over Northland

"If you happened to notice a milky or hazy appearance to the sky today, you were seeing some smoke being blown into the region from wildfires in Arizona. The wildfires in eastern Arizona are some of the worst that state has seen. As the smoke plume rises and advects to the northeast, it has fanned out and spread into the Midwest and Great Lakes in the middle and upper parts of the atmosphere."

Effects in Minnesota?

The smoke is elevated by the time it gets to Minnesota (mostly above 15,000 feet) and poses little problem. It does scatter out certain colors at sunrise & sunset, making for vivid shows as the sun rises and set each day. During the day, the sky takes on a whitish tint.

PH

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Heat Storm: 103 is hottest day in 23 years! Cool front ahead

Posted at 11:09 PM on June 7, 2011 by Paul Huttner (10 Comments)
Filed under: Fire weather, Heat

Update 11:09PM:

The latest from Twin Cities NWS.

Record Heat

Fast Facts:

The high of 103° observed so far at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport:

Breaks the previous June 7th record of 95° set in 2004.
Was the first 100°+ reading since July 31, 2006.
Was the first 103°+ reading in almost 23 years, since July 31, 1988.
Was tied for the second warmest temperature in the past 69 years (July 31, 1988 with 105° was the only warmer one)
Was the second earliest on record that 103° had occurred, only behind May 31, 1934.
Fell 1° short of the all-time June record of 104° set on June 27th, 1934.

Record Heat:

Tuesday June 7th

A record high was set at Minneapolis on Tuesday, June 7th - The previous record high was 95 degrees set in 2004. The temperature rose to 103 degrees at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport at 326 PM CDT.

This marks the hottest day since 1988 according to NWS records when the mercury hit 105 at MSP Airport on July 31, 1988.

PH

****

Now we know what it's like to live inside a hair dryer.

The hottest air in the nation hit the Twin cities with blast furnace heat today. We blew the previous record of 95 degrees (2004) for the date out of the water in the Twin Cities today.

Record High Set at Minneapolis on Tuesday, June 7th - The previous record high was 95 degrees set in 2004. The temperature rose to 102 degrees at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport as of 220 PM CDT...and could still rise before the end of the day. The last time it was 102 degrees in the Twin Cities was July 15th 1988.

We also smashed the all time state record for Minnesota today according to an email I received today from my MPR colleague and UM climate guru Dr. Mark Seeley.

"I expect that we will not only see new station record highs this afternoon, but also perhaps a new statewide record high for the date. The all-time record for June 7th is 100 degrees F at Madison and Lamberton in 1987."

We may not yet be at the day's high...it could get hotter before 6pm tonight.

Stay cool!

PH

******

Talk about "instant summer."

-The thermometer at Twin Cities Airport flashed 97 degrees at 5:43pm Monday, marking the hottest day in 2 years for the metro. The last time we hit 97? May 19th 2009.

MAX/MIN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TABLE FOR
CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
711 AM CDT TUE JUN 7 2011

VALUES REPRESENT HIGHS YESTERDAY...LOWS OVER THE LAST 12 HOURS
AND PRECIPITATION OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS
:
: MAX MIN
:ID LOCATION TEMP TEMP PCPN
EAU : EAU CLAIRE WI : 94 / 67 / 0.00
MSP : MINNEAPOLIS MN : 97 / 78 / 0.00
STC : ST CLOUD MN : 94 / 69 / 0.00
AXN : ALEXANDRIA MN : 91 / 67 / 0.00
MIC : CRYSTAL MN : 95 / 70 / 0.00
FCM : FLYING CLOUD MN : 96 / 75 / 0.00
RWF : REDWOOD FALLS MN : 98 / 74 / 0.00
STP : ST PAUL MN : 94 / 71 / 0.00
:

Twin Cities NWS calls the record below.

-Record High Set at Minneapolis on Monday, June 6th - A record high temperature of 97° was recorded at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport on Monday. The record high temperature occurred at 5:43 pm. This broke the old record of 95 degrees set in 1987 and 1979.

-Temperatures hit the 100 degree mark in Redwood Falls and Fairmont Monday, and pushed well into the upper 90s elswhere.

IN MINNESOTA
:
BTHM5: BLUE EARTH MN : DH0600/ M / 61 / 0.00
CFAM5: CANNON FALLS MN : DH0600/ 93 / 70 / 0.00
MPXM5: CHANHASSEN WFO : DH0600/ 93 / 67 / 0.00
CHKM5: CHASKA NW MN : DH0600/ 95 / 66 / 0.00
FIRM5: FAIRMONT MN : DH0700/ 100 / 74 / 0.00
FORM5: FOREST LAKE MN : DH0700/ 94 / 65 / 0.00
HSTM5: HASTINGS L/D MN : DH0600/ 94 / 70 / 0.00
JORM5: JORDAN MN : DH0530/ 94 / 71 / 0.00
KIMM5: KIMBALL MN : DH0600/ 91 / 62 / 0.00
LNGM5: LONG PRAIRIE MN : DH0600/ 88 / 57 / 0.00
LSAM5: LWR ST ANTHONY MN : DH0600/ 90 / 65 / 0.00
MVDM5: MONTEVIDEO MN : DH0700/ 97 / 65 / 0.00
RDWM5: RED WING L/D MN : DH0520/ 93 / 69 / 0.00
REWM5: REDWOOD FALLS MN : DH0500/ 100 / 65 / 0.00
RCEM5: RICE MN : DH0700/ 93 / 65 / 0.00

Hottest day in 5 years today?

Tuesday has the potential to be the hottest day in 5 years in parts of southern Minnesota. It is highly likely that bank thermometers will flash 100 degrees in several southern Minnesota towns, including a few in the Twin Cities metro area.

The last time the Twin Cities felt 100 degrees was nearly 5 years ago on July 31, 2006. That day the thermometer at MSP Airport blinked a scorching 101 degrees.

One forecast technique we use as meteorologists is to take an air parcel from about 5,000 feet and "mix down" to the surface to forecast maximum temperatures. If you do that today, and we get full sun and everything else goes just right, that technique yields a high temperature between 100 to 104 degrees in southern Minnesota today. We may not get that high, but the air mass is capable of that kind of heat!

Excessive Heat Warning:

We don't get many EHW's in Minnesota, but this dangerously hot high pressure dome warrants the warning today.

The cirteria for the NWS to issue excessive heat warnings in the metro is fairly straight forward.

I worked in Chicago during the infamous killer 1995 Chicago heat wave and covered the event along with meteorologist Tom Skilling for WGN-TV. Over 700 people died that week, and we learned that heat is cumulative on the human body. If you can't cool off at night, your body just can't keep up with daytime temps that feel like or exceed 100 degrees.

One of the main features of that killer heat wave was that nighttime temperatures never dropped below 81 degrees for a few days, and that just didn't give people a chance to cool down. Many elderly victims succumbed to the heat inside red brick apartments that acted like ovens in the oppressive heat.

Needless to say take care today to stay cool, and check on elderly friends, neighbors and relatives to see that they are cool.

More records will fall today:

The record high of 95 degrees today in the metro (set back in 2004) will almost certainly fall today. Here are some additional records that are likely to fall today.

Mercifully our barbaric heat blast will be brief. A cold front will sail through tomorrow and drop temperatures 20 degrees in southern Minnesota.

Smoke from Arizona fires visible in Minnesota today?

You may notice a whitish tint to the sky today, and vivid colors at sunset tonight.

The smoke plume from the massive wildfires in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona has travelled over a thousand miles and should filter into Minnesota today. The smoke was already visible in Iowa Monday, and brisk southerly winds today should inject the plume right into Minnesota.

The Wallow Fire (named after the area in which the fire began) is massive and growing on hot dry Arizona winds.

The fires near the beautiful mountain resorts of Greer and Alpine in eastern Arizona have burned over 230,000 acres. I have vacationed in Greer, and it is an absolutely stunningly beautiful mountain valley tucked into the mountains. It is sad to see that area could be forever changed by the massive fires.

Smoke visible from webcam in Greer Arizona Tuesday morning.

-Greer webcam

During the 9 years I spent in Arizona well over a million acres of prime Ponderosa Pine forest went up in smoke before my eyes. I covered the tragic firestorm in the town of Summerhaven in the Santa Catalina Mountains live on air in Tucson on June 20, 2003.

The landscape is dramatically different now, even as the town tries to bounce back.

In "marginal climate zones" like the mountains of Arizona you can't help wonder if we're witnessing the effects of climate change right before our eyes as millions of acres of forests that have stood for hundreds or thousands of years go up in smoke before our eyes.

PH

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Fire danger, mostly low

Posted at 7:13 AM on August 25, 2010 by Craig Edwards
Filed under: Fire weather

Remember how wet it was in far northwest Minnesota? Last year's growing season was cool and damp. Check out this latest map from the DNR highlighting the drier regions of the state.

Overall, moisture has been plentiful this growing season, with too much rain coming in short periods in several locations. The North Shore has been the driest pocket. Based on the graphic, one might conclude downpours have been sparse in far northwest Minnesota as well.

Pondering this morning about whether the White House consults their own meteorologist when making a decision about heading out on vacation. The First Family has experienced several days of rain in Martha's Vineyard. Another rainy day is on tap for today.

Looking back through July and August in the Twin Cities there have been only seven days since the 1st of July when the average daily temperature has been below normal. This short-lived intrusion of cooler air is not really breaking news. It will be cool; no doubt, but a quick rebound is seen for the weekend. (Can we count Friday as the weekend, like some golf courses?)

Remember the period from August 15th through the 18th when the maximum temperatures in the Twin Cities were in the upper 70s? Look for an afternoon high temperature of about 75 today in the Metro.

Cool, if you arrive at the State Fair at daybreak on Thursday. Enjoy the warm sunshine for the afternoon.
CE

Smoke from Canadian fires drifts into Minnesota

Posted at 8:37 AM on July 29, 2010 by Paul Huttner
Filed under: Fire weather, Rainfall

You may notice some vivid reddish sunsets the next few days in Minnesota.

A shift to a northwesterly wind flow in the upper atmosphere is feeding smoke from Canadian forest fires aloft into the skies over Minnesota.

(Click for bigger image)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010
DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0102Z July 29, 2010

Central Canada:
The numerous large wildfires of SE Northwest Territories, SW Nunavut,
and N Saskatchewan continue to emit copious amounts of dense smoke.
Dense smoke covers a large portion of N Saskatchewan into W Manitoba, the
NE corner of ND and the northern half of MN. Moderate smoke is connected
to this area over central and northern Saskatchewan over SE NW Territories
and S continental Nunavut into much of western and northern Hudson Bay.
A few other areas of moderate smoke can be seen over N Lake Superior
and NE Ontario as it moves S and SE around the western side of the large
vortex over James Bay and E Quebec.

Morning GOES 1km visible image shows smkoy smudge from NW-SE from St. Cloud through Twin Cities area.

Next rain Friday:

It appears our next shot of rain will roll in Friday. Expect a chance of showers and storms to move into northwest Minnesota tonight and overspread the state Friday.

The best chance for heavy rains appears to be in the southwest half of the state, but the system will have to be monitored.

In the mean time, enjoy a picture postcard Thursday, and watch for a reddish sunset tonight!

PH

On a positive note

Posted at 2:28 PM on June 25, 2010 by Craig Edwards
Filed under: Fire weather

From the DNR on June 25, 2010

Remember all the fire danger and burning restrictions last summer. We should be in good shape for your camp fire going into the Fourth of July Holiday weekend.

Still keeping an eye on severe weather threat. Skies have cleared some upstream where the fuse may be lit before too long. Weather Watch may be forth coming that extends from eastern South Dakota into southwest Minnesota.

The weather pattern looks more stable heading into next week. But we need to navigate through the next sixty hours and dodge some mighty storms.
CE

Dryness spikes fire danger and pollen count

Posted at 8:40 AM on April 21, 2010 by Paul Huttner
Filed under: Fire weather, Pollen

Our dry, pleasant weather pattern comes with a price this spring.

Pollen in much of the Upper Midwest is off the charts this week. The combination of this early spring bloom and lack of rainfall to wash the air clean has sent pollen levels skyrocketing.

According to daily pollen samples from sensors deployed by the Clinical Research Institute (CRI) in Minneapolis, we are breathing in 454 grains of tree pollen per cubic millimeter of air. That's a lot of pollen in one breath.

Other sources like pollen.com put our pollen count at a 9.3 on a scale of 1 to 12. According to pollen.com our predominant tree pollen is elm, poplar and alder. You don't need a genius to know your elm trees are spewing pollen. The weather lab spruce trees are also sending showers of pollen into the air. One brush of the hand sends a cloud of pollen skyward.

CRI defines pollen seasons in Minnesota this way:

There are typically three pollen seasons in Minnesota, with some overlap of pollen types.

Outdoor molds can be present year round, with higher concentrations from spring until snow cover again in the late fall/early winter.

April showers usually wash our air clean every few days. It's been nearly a week now since we've had rain in southern Minnesota, and much longer in the north. Look for pollen counts to remain high until the weekend when we could wash the air with some rain in southern Minnesota.

Fire weather:

The dry breezy weather mans fire danger is high today. The dew point in Minneapolis is in the low 30s Wednesday morning. It's 49 in the middle of the Sonoran Desert in Tucson, Arizona. That means there's considerably more moisture in the air in the Arizona desert than there is in Minnesota today!

The NWS Defines fire weather as a combination of:

-Dry fuels like grasses and brush on the ground.
-Low relative humidity
-High winds
-Mild temperatures

MN DNR fire danger map.

The combination of these factors are all in place today in Minnesota. Look for any fires that start today to spread rapidly toward the southwest on breezy northeast winds...and to make your local newscast tonight.

PH