Cooler but still well above normal this week

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That fuzzy signpost up ahead reads November.

We’re turning the seasonal corner now. Thursday’s sunshine was welcome. 

But Minnesota’s sun angle and intensity are now equal to Feb. 18. There’s just not as much inbound solar energy to warm the atmosphere as much as a few weeks ago. 

Vibrant splashes of fall color linger at the Weather Lab.

The mercury at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport dipped to 32 degrees Thursday morning. 

That ends the growing season in the inner Twin Cities urban core. By my occasionally flawed math, that makes a 183-day growing season at the airport this year. That’s 15 days longer than the 30-year (1981-2010) 

average spring and fall freeze dates across Minnesota here.

The seven-day temperature trend pretty much tells the weather story. A modest warming trend kicks in Friday and Saturday afternoon. The next cool front arrives Sunday. A Canadian air mass invasion next week produces the coldest air of the season so far in Minnesota.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model put a little late October scare into Minnesota meteorologists this week. The usually trusty Euro suggested significant to heavy snow potential across Minnesota on Oct. 29 in Wednesday’s model runs.

Thursday’s solutions backed off the notion of significant snow for Minnesota. The Canadian and European models now suggest some snow in eastern Iowa and Wisconsin. We’ll keep watching this but the latest model consensus suggests Minnesota may avoid a significant late-October snowfall.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Snowy rumors next week appear to be rumors.

Modest warming trend into Saturday; coldest week so far next week

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