Super Typhoon Yutu
This image, to me, is quite terrifying! Super Typhoon Yutu became one of the strongest storms on earth with winds of 180mph and gusts to 220mph just before making landfall with the U.S. territories in the Western Pacific earlier this week. The image below shows the tiny island of Tinian (near Guam) completely within the eye of Yutu. Latest reports suggest that they sustained severe damage across the the island and neighboring islands as Yutu roared through.
Tracking Yutu
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center continues to track Yutu west toward eastern Asia. We’ll see what happens with this storm, but it certainly is a beast!

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Plenty of Rain Chances on the Way…
Our nice dry stretch of weather has come to end across the region with several chances of rain on the way through early next week. It does appear that our best chance of soggy weather will arrive Saturday night through Sunday morning.

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Midwest Weather Outlook
Lingering light precipitation will continue across parts of MN on Friday, but another rain maker will quickly scoot through the region over the weekend with another round of rain. The second batch of showers looks to be a little more robust from PM Saturday to AM Sunday.
More Snow Up North?
Here’s the GFS precipitation potential through 7pm Sunday, which suggests fairly decent tallies across parts of central and northern MN. Some spots could see as much as 1″ of rain or more, especially in the Arrowhead. Meanwhile, folks in the Twin Cities could see up to 0.50″ of rain through the weekend.
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 Fall Color Peeping

Thanks to Adam Albrecht for the picture below who submitted this on the MN DNR fall color page earlier this month. Adam snapped this photo at Mille Lacs Kathio State Park where they are past peak color. In fact, much of the state is past peak now with only a few minor pockets of peak color still in place. Most folks are furiously raking leaves, which seems never ending where mature trees are located.

 

MN DNR Fall Color Update

The MN DNR continues to update their fall color report for the 2018 fall season, but unfortunately, there isn’t much color left as many areas are considered past peak.
See the latest update from the MN DNR HERE:
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What causes fall colors?
Have you ever wondered why leaves change color and what causes the leaves to turn the color they do? The MN DNR has a great explanation.
Four main groups of biochemicals are responsible for the various yellows, oranges, reds and browns that we see in the fall:

Chlorophyll
Carotenoids
Anthocyanins
Tannins

Each has its own color and chemistry. As the amount of these chemicals vary, they will cause subtle variations in color from one leaf to the next, or even from tree to tree.

See more from the MN DNR HERE:

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Chances of a White Halloween?

Hey, it’s Halloween next Wednesday and thanks to @Climatologist49 on Twitter for the image below, which shows the historical probability of a white Halloween.

White Halloweens in Minneapolis

Here’s a look at snowfall data on Halloween for Minneapolis and since 1899 (119 years of data), there has only been snow reported on 20 days and only 6 days with measureable snow (0.1″ or more). Of course, who could forget the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. A record 8.2″ of snow fell on Halloween day itself, but the storm dumped a total of 28.4″ at the MSP Airport – UNREAL!

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Super Typhoon Yutu – Lingering Rain Chances
By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas.

I was always fascinated by weather, even as a young kid. I knew I wanted to be a weatherman when I turned 8 years old. An overnight camping trip to Lake Osakis became frightening when severe storms nearly blew over our camper. My birthday banners were shredded.

I turned that fear into knowledge and many years later I still have those “Wow” moments when I look at weather maps now.

Super Typhoon Yutu in the Western Pacific became one of the strongest storms on earth earlier this week as winds roared to 180mph with gusts of up to 220mph! I was shocked to see the tiny island of Tinian (near Guam in the U.S. territories) completely visible from inside of Yutu’s eye – Unreal.

Closer to home we don’t have any hurricanes or super typhoons brewing, but we will have more gray skies and scattered rain showers to contend with. Light rain chances linger Friday with another clipper arriving late Saturday and early Sunday with a bit more rain. Our Halloween preview looks a little soggy too – BOO! At least we’re not swatting skeeters anymore!
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What’s in the Night Sky?

According to EarthSky.org this is what will be visible in the night sky over the next several nights:

“Despite the lunar glare, you still might see Aldebaran, the constellation Taurus’ brightest star, and the Pleiades star cluster near the moon on October 26, 2018. From 1969 to 1972, Apollo astronauts left laser reflectors on the moon’s surface, enabling astronomers to measure the moon’s distance from Earth with great accuracy. Although the moon’s distance from Earth varies each month because of its eccentric orbit, the moon’s mean distance from Earth is nonetheless increasing at the rate of about 3.8 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year. That’s about the rate that fingernails grow. Tidal friction with the Earth’s oceans is responsible for this long-term increase of the moon’s distance from Earth. It’s causing the moon to spiral into a more distant orbit. Tidal friction also slows down the Earth’s rotation, lengthening the day by about 1 second every 40,000 years. Hence, the number of days in a year is slowly diminishing over the long course of time. Simulations suggest that at the time of the moon’s formation some 4.5 billion years ago, the moon was only about 12,000 to 18,000 miles (20,000 to 30,000 kilometers) from Earth. Way back then, Earth’s day might have been only 5 or 6 hours long. That would mean over 1,400 days in one year!”

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Atlantic Update

Things have quieted down a bit in the Atlantic basin, but NOAA’s NHC is tracking a wave of energy in the Central Atlantic that has a high probability of tropical formation over the next 5 days.

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