Wind eases Friday, Calhoun ice out 9 days early

Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men. -- Chinese proverb

I saw the first little green shoots of life around the Weather Lab this week. Willow tree tops turning bright green. Patches of south-sloping grass greening up. Golfers roaming the fairways at Deer Run.

Spring is in the wind-whipped air these days. If you can stand upright in the gusts.

Winds peaked near hurricane force at 71 miles per hour on the Blatnick Bridge between Duluth and Superior, Wis., Thursday.

The winds of April ease the next few days as temperatures return closer to average. Some much needed April showers creep into the forecast this weekend and early next week.

Wanted: More rain

Minnesota rides the fringe of drought again. This week's rain was welcome in a state that needs 2 to 5 inches of rain to pull out of a drought that has been developing since last fall. Wednesday's rain helped in the short term, but more is needed.

Moderate drought coverage increased in Minnesota this week to 91 percent from 88 percent last week. Add Wisconsin to the list of Midwest states rapidly slipping into drought. Moderate drought spiked to 55 percent coverage from just 12 percent last week.

The overall outlook continues to favor drought across the Upper Midwest this spring.

Wind and rain take out ice

Call it the great ice destroyer. Wind, rain and warm weather have combined to take ice out on some mid-sized bellwether metro lakes.

Lake Calhoun went out Wednesday. That's a full nine days earlier than the long-term average dating back to 1946.

Lake Harriet was ice-free today. Big chunks of Lake Minnetonka are already ice-free, and the remaining ice is black and thin according to this email sent to me by Steve Woods, the director of the Freshwater Society.

Good morning –

Still plenty of ice on Lake Minnetonka, though there is enough open water now for these winds to start battering the ice sheet around.

I spoke with Lt. Kent Vnuk of the Water Patrol a few minutes ago and they expect to begin boat patrols with the Freshwater Society tomorrow. Timing is still TBD. The patrol encountered 1 – 2 inch ice on Crystal Bay and was able to boat through Black Lake into Cooks Bay. It also appears Excelsior Bay used yesterday’s wind to blow out toward Gale and Big Islands. Tanager Lake is clear — the Tanager channel was the last place to clear in 2014. Main lake is still mostly covered, but thin.

Steve sent this update later after today's winds shredded most of what ice is left on Minnetonka.

Update:   Big wind, clear sky (full sun power), and warm temps have put a major dent in ice cover of the lake today. An observer near Wayzata Bay reported it went from 30% open water to closer to 90% just  in the last couple hours. He also said that Browns bay was still mostly covered with ice.

As Tonka goes ice-free in the next few days, it will continue the trend of ice outs a week to 10 days earlier than average in southern Minnesota this spring.

Temperatures run closer to average into the weekend. Monday's system favors a rain-snow mix. Temperatures look cool next week, but the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model cranks out 60 degrees again by next Friday.