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By D.J. Kayser, filling in for Paul DouglasWe are nearing the end.
The end of summer, that is. Astronomical fall officially beings this Thursday at 9:21 AM, meaning you only have a few more days to enjoy what is left of summer. On Thursday, the sun will be directly overhead the equator, creating nearly equal amounts of day and night.
Unfortunately, that means we have to be losing daylight to to be able to get close to equal day and night. Right now we are losing a little more than three minutes of daylight a day here in the Twin Cities, and on the 25th of this month we will start our long stretch of days with less than 12 hours of sunlight. We won’t see more than 12 hours of sunlight again until March 17, 2017, right around the beginning of spring.
The good news is that it’ll continue to feel like summer today across the region, with highs soaring to near 80 under sunny skies. Nice weather will continue into the beginning of the week, but fall looks to start on a rainy note across the region, with 2-4″ of rain possible from Wednesday into next weekend.
MONDAY: Mainly sunny, a touch cooler. High 77. Low 54. Chance of precipitation 10%. Winds W 5-10 mph.
TUESDAY: Blue skies. Storm chance overnight. High 75. Low 58. Chance of precipitation 20%. Winds SE 3-5 mph.
WEDNESDAY: Storms with heavy rain. High 72. Low 58. Chance of precipitation 50%. Winds SE 5-10 mph.
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This Day in Weather History
September 18th
1997: An F3 tornado destroys several buildings and damages numerous others. Hundreds of trees are knocked down. A number of cattle are also killed in a collapsed barn. One man is injured when the tornado engulfs his car and throws it into a nearby woods. A second man is critically injured when his garage collapses, then dies several weeks later. The total path length of the tornado from 1 NE of Lastrup to Onamia is 17 miles. Total property damage is estimated at $1.7 million. In total, 6 tornadoes touch down in Morrison, Mille Lacs, and Kanabec.
1991: Duluth gets 2.5 inches of snow five days before the beginning of Fall.
1971: A brush fire at Lake Alexander in Morrison County spawns a 10-foot wide, 50-foot high ‘fire whirl.’ It moved out over the lake, overturned a 1,800 pound pontoon boat, and then dissipated as it moved back to shore.
1903: 3.75 inches of rain falls in the Minneapolis area.
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Average Temperatures & Precipitation for Minneapolis
September 18th
Average High: 71F (Record: 93F set in 1891)
Average Low: 51F (Record: 32F set in 1939)
Average Precipitation: 0.10″ (Record: 3.75″ set in 1905)
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Sunrise/Sunset Times for Minneapolis
September 18th
Sunrise: 6:56 AM
Sunset: 7:17 PM
*Length Of Day: 12 hours, 21 minutes and 9 seconds
*Daylight Lost Since Yesterday: ~3 minutes and 6 secondss
*Next Sunrise That Is At/After 7 AM: September 21st (7:00 am)
*Next Sunset That Is Before 7 PM: September 28th (6:58 pm)
Minnesota Weather Outlook
Expected Highs Sunday.
We’ll see highs Sunday a good 5-10 degrees warmer vs. Saturday across most of Minnesota, with highs approaching 80 here in the Twin Cities. Highs will be in the 80s across parts of southern Minnesota. Otherwise, 70s will be quite common across the state – the only place they won’t be is along parts of the north shore of Lake Superior up toward Grand Marais, which will be stuck in the 60s.
Warmth is the continued story in the temperature department over the next week, with highs in the 70s likely though the end of the week. The warmest day looks to be Sunday as we approach 80. Looking long term, we continue to watch hints in the models of a cool down for the last week of the month. With astronomical fall ending this week, the temperatures will have to start trending downward at some point, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you view it).
The rain chances ramp up across the region heading into the middle to end of the week, with currently two distinct chances in the models – one Wednesday into Thursday, and another one next Friday into Sunday. Rain totals could be heavy according to the models, with the potential of 2″+ over the next week in the Twin Cities. It may sound like a broken record over the past few months, but more precipitation is likely for the last week of the month.
Potential rainfall totals through next Saturday morning could be between 1-2″ across the Twin Cities, with a widespread half an inch or greater across the southern two-thirds of the state. The greatest rainfall right now over the next week looks to be across parts of southeast Minnesota and parts of west-central/southwest Wisconsin, where 4″+ is possible.
Thanks for checking in and have a great Sunday! Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) or on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser)!
– D.J. Kayser