Morning fog clears to make way for early fall warm-up
MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner joins Minnesota Now to explain the fall outlook and the forecast for the rest of the week.
Bill Endersen | MPR News File
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: We did get a serious taste of fall this week with some chilly temperatures and some gray days. But it looks like summer will be returning to us, at least for a little while. Here to explain the fall outlook is MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner. Hi, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: Hey, Nina. Good to talk to you again today.
NINA MOINI: Always great to talk to you. This morning, as I was driving into work, I thought, is this smoke? And then I realized it was fog. And I was like, I guess that's better. But let's talk about that fog this morning. It really lingered.
PAUL HUTTNER: It did. And it was widespread. The color across Minnesota, much of it today, was kind of a Ralph Lauren gray out there this morning. And we are headed into fog season in Minnesota. We get this widespread ground fog. We had visibilities down about a tenth of a mile this morning. So that's why it was pretty thick out there, a pea souper. We call that radiation fog because these longer nights, the temperature cools down to the dew point, and that saturates the air. And with light winds, that happens right here at the ground. So we get a cloud on the ground. And that's fog. And it will burn off, as we go through the day. In fact, the sun is coming out across much of Minnesota Now and will do so even more in the Twin Cities here over the next hour or two.
NINA MOINI: Well, that's good to hear. It was pretty chilly earlier this week. Was that a normal chill for September?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah. We usually get a shot of cooler air after Labor Day sometime. Those temperatures were well below normal. But we're headed right back up above normal here, as we go through the rest of this week, kind of a summery encore. That south wind will pick up as we head through tomorrow in the coming days into the weekend. So maybe a little morning fog still, but we'll have mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies.
And temperatures will respond, 57 tonight, 77 tomorrow afternoon, and then 80s, it looks like, Twin Cities, Southern Minnesota, Western Minnesota, maybe even as far north as Brainerd, Bemidji, right into the upcoming weekend. So we could hit 85, 86 in the Twin Cities this weekend. And you'll notice those dew points climbing a little, up into the 60s, so it'll feel just a little sticky. We're kind of going back to July or August on the weather maps in the next few days.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, may need to turn the AC on again, if you got one. So this warm weather, is that something you think will last into the coming week?
PAUL HUTTNER: Well, I'll tell you what, this pattern looks pretty persistent. We look at these jet stream patterns, and they kind of dictate what the temperatures will be in a given region. And this one looks pretty persistent into next week. So I think we'll see 70s to low 80s right into much of next week, maybe a few scattered or isolated thunderstorms. But overall, this looks like a really great stretch of weather, mainly dry, mainly sunny, with a few clouds and just a couple of isolated showers here and there. And it's going to be in the really low 80s, it looks like, for much of Minnesota, with some 70s north right into probably the middle of next week at least.
NINA MOINI: And when you're looking out, even farther than that, Paul, to try to gauge what the fall season may be like, I know it's hard to tell. But what sort of indicators do you use to try to predict?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, exactly, a bunch of different ones, those jet stream patterns, the way oceans are working. And the NOAA outlooks for fall for September favor warmer than normal conditions for Minnesota. And fall is our fastest warming season, or I should say, second fastest warming season in Minnesota after winter. Our falls are trending milder. The warmth is lingering longer. We had 80s to the end of October last year. And that's been happening more frequently.
Yeah, and winter, of course, our fastest warming season, it looks like we could have a weak La Niña. Temperatures may be normal in that situation. But climate change has warmed Minnesota winters 5 to 6 degrees. So the bets would be on a probably slightly warmer than normal winter. But we usually get our share of snow.
NINA MOINI: Sure. All right, Paul, let us know what is on Climate Cast this week, if you would.
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, in talking about those warming oceans, some studies are starting to see changes in Atlantic Ocean currents. Sounds pretty abstract, but it can have atmospheric changes right here in Minnesota. So we'll talk with John Abraham-- he's a climate scientist at the University of St. Thomas-- about what that could mean going forward. That's tomorrow on ClimateCast.
NINA MOINI: And that's on All Things Considered. Thanks so much, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: Appreciate it. Thanks, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That was MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner.
PAUL HUTTNER: Hey, Nina. Good to talk to you again today.
NINA MOINI: Always great to talk to you. This morning, as I was driving into work, I thought, is this smoke? And then I realized it was fog. And I was like, I guess that's better. But let's talk about that fog this morning. It really lingered.
PAUL HUTTNER: It did. And it was widespread. The color across Minnesota, much of it today, was kind of a Ralph Lauren gray out there this morning. And we are headed into fog season in Minnesota. We get this widespread ground fog. We had visibilities down about a tenth of a mile this morning. So that's why it was pretty thick out there, a pea souper. We call that radiation fog because these longer nights, the temperature cools down to the dew point, and that saturates the air. And with light winds, that happens right here at the ground. So we get a cloud on the ground. And that's fog. And it will burn off, as we go through the day. In fact, the sun is coming out across much of Minnesota Now and will do so even more in the Twin Cities here over the next hour or two.
NINA MOINI: Well, that's good to hear. It was pretty chilly earlier this week. Was that a normal chill for September?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah. We usually get a shot of cooler air after Labor Day sometime. Those temperatures were well below normal. But we're headed right back up above normal here, as we go through the rest of this week, kind of a summery encore. That south wind will pick up as we head through tomorrow in the coming days into the weekend. So maybe a little morning fog still, but we'll have mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies.
And temperatures will respond, 57 tonight, 77 tomorrow afternoon, and then 80s, it looks like, Twin Cities, Southern Minnesota, Western Minnesota, maybe even as far north as Brainerd, Bemidji, right into the upcoming weekend. So we could hit 85, 86 in the Twin Cities this weekend. And you'll notice those dew points climbing a little, up into the 60s, so it'll feel just a little sticky. We're kind of going back to July or August on the weather maps in the next few days.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, may need to turn the AC on again, if you got one. So this warm weather, is that something you think will last into the coming week?
PAUL HUTTNER: Well, I'll tell you what, this pattern looks pretty persistent. We look at these jet stream patterns, and they kind of dictate what the temperatures will be in a given region. And this one looks pretty persistent into next week. So I think we'll see 70s to low 80s right into much of next week, maybe a few scattered or isolated thunderstorms. But overall, this looks like a really great stretch of weather, mainly dry, mainly sunny, with a few clouds and just a couple of isolated showers here and there. And it's going to be in the really low 80s, it looks like, for much of Minnesota, with some 70s north right into probably the middle of next week at least.
NINA MOINI: And when you're looking out, even farther than that, Paul, to try to gauge what the fall season may be like, I know it's hard to tell. But what sort of indicators do you use to try to predict?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, exactly, a bunch of different ones, those jet stream patterns, the way oceans are working. And the NOAA outlooks for fall for September favor warmer than normal conditions for Minnesota. And fall is our fastest warming season, or I should say, second fastest warming season in Minnesota after winter. Our falls are trending milder. The warmth is lingering longer. We had 80s to the end of October last year. And that's been happening more frequently.
Yeah, and winter, of course, our fastest warming season, it looks like we could have a weak La Niña. Temperatures may be normal in that situation. But climate change has warmed Minnesota winters 5 to 6 degrees. So the bets would be on a probably slightly warmer than normal winter. But we usually get our share of snow.
NINA MOINI: Sure. All right, Paul, let us know what is on Climate Cast this week, if you would.
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, in talking about those warming oceans, some studies are starting to see changes in Atlantic Ocean currents. Sounds pretty abstract, but it can have atmospheric changes right here in Minnesota. So we'll talk with John Abraham-- he's a climate scientist at the University of St. Thomas-- about what that could mean going forward. That's tomorrow on ClimateCast.
NINA MOINI: And that's on All Things Considered. Thanks so much, Paul.
PAUL HUTTNER: Appreciate it. Thanks, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That was MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner.
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