MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner discusses the latest research on our changing climate and the consequences we’re seeing here in Minnesota and worldwide. Hear Climate Cast each Thursday on MPR’s 

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MPR meteorologist Paul Huttner discusses the latest research on our changing climate and the consequences we’re seeing here in Minnesota and worldwide.


MPR News

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Political headwinds could spell trouble for solar power in Minnesota

MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner talked to energy reporter Brian Martucci about how much solar energy has expanded in Minnesota and the politics that could stunt its growth. 


How one Minnesota recycling facility is becoming more efficient.

How much are Minnesotans recycling across the state? MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talked to Miriam Holsinger of Eureka Recycling about recycling trends in Minnesota. 


How one Minnesota recycling facility is becoming more efficient

Tech giants vie to build data centers in Minnesota to support their growing AI networks

What impact will the data center boom have on Minnesota? MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talked to Nick Halter, Twin Cities reporter at Axios, about how data centers want to tap Minnesota’s natural resources.  


Tech giants vie to build data centers in Minnesota to support their growing AI networks   

The Mississippi River has topped an endangered rivers list. Extreme floods, drought cycles, toxic runoff and poor river management threaten it. MPR News correspondent Kirsti Marohn​ spoke to chief meteorologist Paul Huttner about the stresses on this vital waterway.

Mississippi named 'most endangered' river in the U.S.

The Mississippi River has topped an endangered rivers list. Extreme floods, drought cycles, toxic runoff and poor river management threaten it. MPR News correspondent Kirsti Marohn​ spoke to chief meteorologist Paul Huttner about the stresses on this vital waterway.


Tamara Dean, author of “Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless,” talks to MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner about climate change and rethinking the lifestyle choices we make to lower our carbon footprint but still live productive lives. 

Writer turned citizen scientist offers tips on living lightly to reduce your carbon footprint

Tamara Dean, author of “Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless,” talks to MPR chief meteorologist Paul Huttner about climate change and rethinking the lifestyle choices we make to lower our carbon footprint but still live productive lives. 


Minnesota’s longer growing season means a much longer pollen season. That’s bad news for allergy sufferers. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks with Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Kristoffer Tigue about Minnesota’s growing allergy season. 

It’s not your imagination, Minnesota is experiencing a longer allergy season

Minnesota’s longer growing season means a much longer pollen season. That’s bad news for allergy sufferers. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks with Minnesota Star Tribune reporter Kristoffer Tigue about Minnesota’s growing allergy season. 


It’s not your imagination, Minnesota is experiencing a longer allergy season 

Minnesota's unpredictable winter could be the new normal. 

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks with state climatologist Pete Boulay about the Minnesota’s tug-of-war with winter. 


Minnesota's volatile winter could be the new normal

The U.S. military unearthed data about rising sea levels in the early 1950s — and has been closely watching this threat to national security ever since. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and geoscientist Paul Bierman talk about climate research by the U.S. Military Forces.

New book traces 75-year history of U.S. military climate research

The U.S. military unearthed data about rising sea levels in the early 1950s — and has been closely watching this threat to national security ever since. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and geoscientist Paul Bierman talk about climate research by the U.S. Military Forces. 


MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and journalist Allison Prang talk about Minnesota’s efforts to speed up the clean-energy permitting process so the state can achieve its goals. 

Minnesota ‘red-tape experiment’ streamlines permitting process to achieve carbon-free grid

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and journalist Allison Prang talk about Minnesota’s efforts to speed up the clean-energy permitting process so the state can achieve its goals. 


MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks Nick Halter, Twin Cities reporter at Axios, about the many reasons ducks are staying in Minnesota all winter. 

Forget migration. Ducks are choosing to chill in Minnesota all winter long

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks Nick Halter, Twin Cities reporter at Axios, about the many reasons ducks are staying in Minnesota all winter. 


Climate Cast ®

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Updraft® is your source for Minnesota forecasts and insights from our expert meteorologists, Paul Huttner, Sven Sundgaard and Mandy Thalhuber.

MPR News brings you the latest weather outlook, across all of Minnesota, so you can be better prepared for your day.

Get in-depth Minnesota weather forecasts with Updraft® by MPR News. Stay updated with the latest from our meteorologists.

Mostly favorable weather conditions will grace Minnesota this holiday weekend. A few spotty showers are possible especially Monday.


Memorial Day weekend looks nice; NE Minnesota frost advisory into Friday morning

After a stretch of soggy days and overcast skies, the sun returns just in time for the upcoming holiday weekend. A gradual warming trend is also on the way, with temperatures expected to climb back to more seasonal levels, reaching the 70s by early next week.


Back to bright: Dry weather returns with sunshine

Our rain is finally done. Clouds will continue to decrease from north to south, warming things up on Thursday. The holiday weekend looks decent and summer warmth returns next week. 


Decreasing clouds and warmer temperatures Thursday 

NOAA outlooks favor warmer than normal temperatures this summer across much of the U.S. including Minnesota.


Hotter-than-normal summer ahead for Minnesota?

A major rainfall system dropped a month’s worth of rain across the Twin Cities and central Minnesota.


A month's worth of rain; better Memorial Day weekend forecast 

Showers continue Wednesday but will become more scattered and generally lighter than in the past 24 hours. Sunshine should pop back out Thursday, warming things up. 


Scattered showers taper off Wednesday with sun Thursday 

Hutchinson and Clearwater recorded 3 inches of rain. Rain is still falling on many areas.


Super soaker drops 3 inches of rain; drier days ahead

A slow moving weather system is dropping soaking rainfall across most of Minnesota.


Widespread soaking rainfall continues Wednesday

Rain continues for central and southern Minnesota Tuesday and will gradually diminish Wednesday. Temperatures will remain cooler than normal through the week. 


Wind-driven rain continues Tuesday into Wednesday 

Our cold stretch of weather shows no signs of letting up, with below-average temperatures in the 40s and 50s continuing. Soaking rain is set to move in Monday night, lasting through Tuesday, accompanied by breezy easterly winds.


Cold lingers, rain returns and breezy winds continue

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Stay informed on weather and climate news in Minnesota and beyond. Get the latest updates and expert insights from MPR News.


Mostly favorable weather conditions will grace Minnesota this holiday weekend. A few spotty showers are possible especially Monday.

Weather Chat May 22

Cleanup work continues at some Minnesota state parks — and could last into the Memorial Day weekend — in the wake of strong storms and gusty winds late last week.


Minnesota News

Cleanup continues after storms left major tree damage in Minnesota state parks

MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joins MPR News host Nina Moini with details on the rainfall and a Memorial Day forecast.

Rainy weather 'washed the air,' improving air quality readings across Minnesota

NINA MOINI: I'm Nina Moini. You're listening to Minnesota Now, and as always, we thank you for sharing your time with us. Have you had enough of the rain yet? This wet week, of course, was needed to soothe drought in some parts of the state, but it was quite the whiplash from hot temperatures last week. So for more on all of that, keeping up with the weather is MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. Thanks for being here, Paul. 

PAUL HUTTNER: Oh, it's my pleasure, Nina. 

NINA MOINI: So we had all this rainfall. Exactly how much did fall, and was it helpful? Was it helpful, maybe, to farmers this time of year? 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, this was a significant rainfall, a proverbial million dollar rain for lots of farmers in central and southern Minnesota who've already planted crops. It was very dry sitting there, waiting for a little moisture, and boy, did we get it in spades, especially from the Twin Cities west into western Minnesota. 

There's an area from the Twin Cities out to about Hutchinson and Clearwater, 2 to 3, maybe even 4 inches of rain. Hutchinson and Clearwater are over 3 inches now. Lester Prairie, 2.85. That's west of the Twin Cities. Howard Lake, 2.7. Mankato Area got 2.5 inches. And around the Twin Cities, anywhere from 2 to 2.5 to almost 3. Twin Cities Airport, 2.17. White Bear Lake, St. Paul, 2.5, so a real, real soaker. 

And then you get down to Austin, Owatonna, Rochester. They had a little over 2 inches also. Less as you go north. Brainerd, Detroit Lakes had about an inch. Duluth, 0.39. So we didn't get a lot of rain up in those fire zones, and it kind of stops up around Bemidji where we got very light rain. So that was certainly good, though, central and southern Minnesota. 

NINA MOINI: Yeah, they've been dealing with those fires in northeast Minnesota. So how about drought, though, overall? Did it really mitigate it too much? 

PAUL HUTTNER: I think it did. We're going to get a new drought monitor report tomorrow. Unfortunately, a lot of this rain won't make the cut off for that, which is 7:00 AM Tuesday, because most of it fell after. So we'll see that change, I think, in the drought monitor next week. But that area west of the Twin Cities got 1 to 4 inches, and it's abnormally dry to a drought zone in western Minnesota over to the South Dakota border. 

So places like Montevideo, Granite Falls, I think they'll probably come out of drought. Less so north in that drought zone up around Bemidji and Red Lake, because they got little rain up there-- and as we mentioned, the fire zones. But there's one other benefit here I want to point out, Nina. This air, this rain, was so widespread, it actually washed the air in Minnesota to an extraordinary degree. 

Air quality readings are excellent across Minnesota. In fact, I saw an air quality index of 1 in Minneapolis last night. I've never seen that before. It washes all those particles out of the air. So breathe deeply, Nina. It is a beautiful air mass out there, even though it's still a little gray today with a few showers. 

NINA MOINI: Yeah, I think I did. My allergies have eased a little, so I believe you there. That's something good. So this weekend, a lot of people might have a three day weekend coming up. Of course, it's going to be Memorial Day on Monday. What is ahead for people? 

PAUL HUTTNER: You know what? I'm going to give this weekend a 6 out of 10 weather stars, if you will, because it's going to be pretty decent. We'll start chilly tonight. We're 41 the Twin Cities. There are frost advisories out for all of northeast Minnesota from Hinckley north. They're used to that. They get a lot of frost even into June up north. Tomorrow, we'll see the sun at least part of the day, I think. 

64 in the Twin Cities, and then mostly mid to upper 60s Friday, Saturday, Sunday, right through Memorial Day. Mostly sunny to partly cloudy at times, only about a 20% chance of a shower, and winds not too bad. So a cool weekend, but not bad. I think we'll see our fair share of sun, and you'll get most of your outdoor activities in this weekend. 

NINA MOINI: Yeah. Sometimes, that can be nice. Just nice and in the 60s. So for the rest of the summer outlook, though, is there a longer range forecast that you're looking at that talks about maybe temperatures, but rainfall as well? 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, there are. There are tiers of these sort of cascading medium and long range forecasts. First, let's start with next week, because we're going to start in the 60s, but we'll hit 70s, it looks like, by Tuesday, Wednesday. And Nina, it looks like the models are saying we could hit 80 degrees around here later next week into that following weekend, the first days of June, especially in northern Minnesota, too, some 80s up north, so a big change there. And then the outlooks for the next few weeks and next month are calling for warmer than normal temperatures in our area. 

And actually, if you extend that out even further into summer, the longer range outlooks are calling for a warmer than normal summer, so this could be very interesting to see if we actually have a steamy hot summer in Minnesota. Rainfall outlooks, generally equal chances to maybe slightly drier than normal, so we'll see how this shapes out. But hang on, summer's coming, and you'll feel it here, I think, as early as late next week. 

NINA MOINI: Wow, that is interesting. We'll see how things flush out. What do you have going on for Climate Cast this week for us, Paul? 

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, they keep track of things like wildfire smoke and ozone, issue those air quality alerts. Now, they're going to add a new one. Blowing dust alerts coming to a Minnesota air quality forecast near you. We'll talk to Matt Carlson about why they're including that coming up on Climate Cast tomorrow. 

NINA MOINI: Sounds good. Thanks so much, Paul. 

PAUL HUTTNER: My pleasure. Thanks, Nina. 

NINA MOINI: That was MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. 

MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joins MPR News host Nina Moini with details on the rainfall and a Memorial Day forecast. 


Showers continue Wednesday but will become more scattered and generally lighter than in the past 24 hours. Sunshine should pop back out Thursday, warming things up. 

Scattered showers taper off Wednesday with sun Thursday

Hutchinson and Clearwater recorded 3 inches of rain. Rain is still falling on many areas.

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Memorial Day weekend looks nice; NE Minnesota frost advisory into Friday morning

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Memorial Day weekend looks nice; NE Minnesota frost advisory into Friday morning

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Weather

Latest Updraft®

Memorial Day weekend looks nice; NE Minnesota frost advisory into Friday morning

Interactive Radar

Weather News

Memorial Day weekend looks nice; NE Minnesota frost advisory into Friday morning

Ask Sven and Paul — MPR News meteorologists answer your weather- and climate-related questions

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Climate Cast®

Political headwinds could spell trouble for solar power in Minnesota

How one Minnesota recycling facility is becoming more efficient

Tech giants vie to build data centers in Minnesota to support their growing AI networks