How long will the February blue skies and warm temperatures last?
Wednesday was warm but will it last?
Paul Huttner | MPR News
Minnesotans are enjoying blue skies, sunshine, and warmer temps.
For more on how warm it will get this week, how long the warm spell will last, how much the current snow cover will help with Minnesota’s drought this Spring, and how much snow cover will affect this week’s temperatures, MPR’s chief meteorologist Paul Huttner joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: So I saw that the forecast includes the words clearing trend, and it's happening right now. Blue skies and sunshine, which is nice. Little thaw out there. However, there could be a small shot of snow by tomorrow. Let's get the details from MPR's Chief Meteorologist, Paul Huttner. Yes, Sven stole your thunder just a little bit with that 40 degree reading information.
PAUL HUTTNER: I heard that. And I tell you what, Cathy, you give those weather kids the keys and they just race right down the street, 50 miles an hour. You just can't control it. No, I love Sven. I'm glad you mentioned that.
I was so excited when we had an opportunity to bring him on board. I'm like, Hey, can we get Sven? And they're like, yeah, let's try it. So boy, what a great addition to the weather team. And he's right. It hit 40. Cathy, this is the warmest day in almost two-and-and-half months since November 28th when we last hit 40, if you can believe it, in the Twin Cities.
It's 41 in Canby. It's 40 in Bemidji. So this thaw, this Pacific breeze is blowing all the way up into Northern Minnesota today. We're going to see a lot of spots hit 40 degrees this afternoon. And it looks like we'll probably see temperatures at or above freezing in the Twin Cities, parts of Minnesota seven of eight days here in a row.
CATHY WURZER: Oh my gosh! Well, that's a lot of snow to melt. But we've got the snow-- we have enough snow to melt. [LAUGHS] Let's put it that way. So let's talk about how widespread and deep the snow cover is across Minnesota.
PAUL HUTTNER: It is deep. The whole state is covered with snow. We've got nine inches on the ground in the Twin Cities as of this morning. But northern suburbs, Elk River 14, Willmar 15, Milaca 16.
You get up around Duluth, the Iron Range, the North Shore, it's about two feet of snow, give or take a couple of inches. A little more-- a little deeper in the heavy woods up around the Finland area, up at the top of the hill.
And that snow cover is important, but the hydrologists, the people who do drought and flood forecasts, they're all about the snow water equivalent as we call it. How much water is in that snow?
And generally, if you look now, there's two to four inches of water in the snow pack around Minnesota. So that's like a two to four inch rainstorm just sitting there, waiting for the spring melt. And the question is, how much of that will go into the soils, the rivers?
Most of it will run off into rivers and lakes. Some will go into the soils. If it melts more slowly, more will go into the soils. We'll also get a little bit of evaporation. But Cathy, as we've talked about, we had a 10 inch deficit going into winter here with rainfall in the Twin Cities. We're going to need the slow melt plus probably another three to six inches of moisture in the spring once the ground thaws in some areas to really erase this drought.
CATHY WURZER: Don't you think that that's possible? I mean, three to six inches?
PAUL HUTTNER: I do. I think it's possible. We're going to have to see this signal-- this wet signal we got in December and January continue into the spring though. So I'm hoping for a wet April. I know a lot of people don't want to hear that. But hopefully, a lot of sunny days in between the rainstorms.
CATHY WURZER: Hey, let's talk a little bit about springtime storms and the possibility of severe weather. Obviously, that happens that time of the year. I understand that-- and I use Twitter a lot when I'm following severe weather. Are they changing severe weather warning feeds?
PAUL HUTTNER: Well, they are, and to be determined apparently. Because we have a bit of an update on this. So about a week ago, Twitter tweeted out that it was going to transition to a paid API that supports these automated weather feeds like National Weather Service watches, and warnings, and special weather statements, that kind of thing, that a lot of Twitter accounts use, including the NWS accounts, including our MPR Weather account to automatically feed these severe weather warnings.
So you can-- we want to have a lot of sources for these, we call it multiple safety nets. You got it on your phone. You got it on the radio. You got it on NOAA Weather Radio. But a lot of people rely on these Twitter accounts. And they decided they were going to stop supporting that and make it a paid service. Well, that would have killed a whole bunch of these accounts.
Elon Musk sent an updated tweet a couple of days ago, said they would support some limited feeds for public safety. But it's really to be determined, I think, how that rolls out. And the date was tomorrow initially, February 9th, that they put out for this. So going to be interesting to see what happens tomorrow if a lot of these Twitter feeds are still getting automated severe weather warnings.
CATHY WURZER: Wow! That would be a huge change. So before you go, Climate Cast, everything cooking for that?
PAUL HUTTNER: We are cooking for that, and I'm going to have to throw up a little bit of a punt here because there were a couple of episodes that we're working on, and I'm not sure which one--
CATHY WURZER: That's OK.
PAUL HUTTNER: --they're airing tomorrow. So I'll double-check--
CATHY WURZER: That's all right.
PAUL HUTTNER: --and get back to you, and we'll tweet that out.
CATHY WURZER: You've got a lot of different things happening. I understand that. That's OK. By the way, the 10th anniversary show was really fun. I like that.
PAUL HUTTNER: Oh, thank you. It was great to hear all those perspectives and it's great to get the response that we've had from the people of Minnesota on that. So I enjoy doing the work. Thank you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Paul Hunter, have a good day.
PAUL HUTTNER: You too. Thanks.
CATHY WURZER: That is our Chief Meteorologist, Paul Huttner. By the way, if you're looking for more weather information, we have it fresh several times during the day. Updraft blog at mprnews.org.
PAUL HUTTNER: I heard that. And I tell you what, Cathy, you give those weather kids the keys and they just race right down the street, 50 miles an hour. You just can't control it. No, I love Sven. I'm glad you mentioned that.
I was so excited when we had an opportunity to bring him on board. I'm like, Hey, can we get Sven? And they're like, yeah, let's try it. So boy, what a great addition to the weather team. And he's right. It hit 40. Cathy, this is the warmest day in almost two-and-and-half months since November 28th when we last hit 40, if you can believe it, in the Twin Cities.
It's 41 in Canby. It's 40 in Bemidji. So this thaw, this Pacific breeze is blowing all the way up into Northern Minnesota today. We're going to see a lot of spots hit 40 degrees this afternoon. And it looks like we'll probably see temperatures at or above freezing in the Twin Cities, parts of Minnesota seven of eight days here in a row.
CATHY WURZER: Oh my gosh! Well, that's a lot of snow to melt. But we've got the snow-- we have enough snow to melt. [LAUGHS] Let's put it that way. So let's talk about how widespread and deep the snow cover is across Minnesota.
PAUL HUTTNER: It is deep. The whole state is covered with snow. We've got nine inches on the ground in the Twin Cities as of this morning. But northern suburbs, Elk River 14, Willmar 15, Milaca 16.
You get up around Duluth, the Iron Range, the North Shore, it's about two feet of snow, give or take a couple of inches. A little more-- a little deeper in the heavy woods up around the Finland area, up at the top of the hill.
And that snow cover is important, but the hydrologists, the people who do drought and flood forecasts, they're all about the snow water equivalent as we call it. How much water is in that snow?
And generally, if you look now, there's two to four inches of water in the snow pack around Minnesota. So that's like a two to four inch rainstorm just sitting there, waiting for the spring melt. And the question is, how much of that will go into the soils, the rivers?
Most of it will run off into rivers and lakes. Some will go into the soils. If it melts more slowly, more will go into the soils. We'll also get a little bit of evaporation. But Cathy, as we've talked about, we had a 10 inch deficit going into winter here with rainfall in the Twin Cities. We're going to need the slow melt plus probably another three to six inches of moisture in the spring once the ground thaws in some areas to really erase this drought.
CATHY WURZER: Don't you think that that's possible? I mean, three to six inches?
PAUL HUTTNER: I do. I think it's possible. We're going to have to see this signal-- this wet signal we got in December and January continue into the spring though. So I'm hoping for a wet April. I know a lot of people don't want to hear that. But hopefully, a lot of sunny days in between the rainstorms.
CATHY WURZER: Hey, let's talk a little bit about springtime storms and the possibility of severe weather. Obviously, that happens that time of the year. I understand that-- and I use Twitter a lot when I'm following severe weather. Are they changing severe weather warning feeds?
PAUL HUTTNER: Well, they are, and to be determined apparently. Because we have a bit of an update on this. So about a week ago, Twitter tweeted out that it was going to transition to a paid API that supports these automated weather feeds like National Weather Service watches, and warnings, and special weather statements, that kind of thing, that a lot of Twitter accounts use, including the NWS accounts, including our MPR Weather account to automatically feed these severe weather warnings.
So you can-- we want to have a lot of sources for these, we call it multiple safety nets. You got it on your phone. You got it on the radio. You got it on NOAA Weather Radio. But a lot of people rely on these Twitter accounts. And they decided they were going to stop supporting that and make it a paid service. Well, that would have killed a whole bunch of these accounts.
Elon Musk sent an updated tweet a couple of days ago, said they would support some limited feeds for public safety. But it's really to be determined, I think, how that rolls out. And the date was tomorrow initially, February 9th, that they put out for this. So going to be interesting to see what happens tomorrow if a lot of these Twitter feeds are still getting automated severe weather warnings.
CATHY WURZER: Wow! That would be a huge change. So before you go, Climate Cast, everything cooking for that?
PAUL HUTTNER: We are cooking for that, and I'm going to have to throw up a little bit of a punt here because there were a couple of episodes that we're working on, and I'm not sure which one--
CATHY WURZER: That's OK.
PAUL HUTTNER: --they're airing tomorrow. So I'll double-check--
CATHY WURZER: That's all right.
PAUL HUTTNER: --and get back to you, and we'll tweet that out.
CATHY WURZER: You've got a lot of different things happening. I understand that. That's OK. By the way, the 10th anniversary show was really fun. I like that.
PAUL HUTTNER: Oh, thank you. It was great to hear all those perspectives and it's great to get the response that we've had from the people of Minnesota on that. So I enjoy doing the work. Thank you, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Paul Hunter, have a good day.
PAUL HUTTNER: You too. Thanks.
CATHY WURZER: That is our Chief Meteorologist, Paul Huttner. By the way, if you're looking for more weather information, we have it fresh several times during the day. Updraft blog at mprnews.org.
Download transcript (PDF)
Transcription services provided by 3Play Media.