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Storm Chaser 🌪️ Weather forecasts for Minnesota
Discussing severe weather, climate topics, helping people understand weather
Landscape and storm photography — NWS/Skywarn trained spotter
No politics or hype/sensationalism

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mrs. MN Chaser!  Fall is here.  Brisk mornings this week with widespread frost.  Warming trend with a ...
14/10/2024

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mrs. MN Chaser!
Fall is here. Brisk mornings this week with widespread frost. Warming trend with a chance for 70º on Thursday! Possible rain in the forecast Friday/weekend.

The sky is on fire tonight!  (all cell phone shots, no edits)
11/10/2024

The sky is on fire tonight! (all cell phone shots, no edits)

😬🙂
05/10/2024

😬🙂

Copy: warm and dry
Paste: to the forecast for the next 2 weeks

Happy Thursday! Fantastic wrap to the week and weekend forecast.  Temps on the warmer side - 80's on Saturday! Breezy Sa...
03/10/2024

Happy Thursday! Fantastic wrap to the week and weekend forecast. Temps on the warmer side - 80's on Saturday! Breezy Sat and Sun. Evenings are still in the 40's+ in Twin Cities...but frost warnings are making their way into MN and working their way south.

Here's your 4 day for the Twin Cities Area.  Still holding on to a bit of summer.  Warm and Clear.  Cooler evenings with...
30/09/2024

Here's your 4 day for the Twin Cities Area. Still holding on to a bit of summer. Warm and Clear. Cooler evenings with not as long of peak heating during the day. Low humidity + strong winds in some areas of MN = Red Flag fire warnings. Be extra careful if you enjoy bonfires this time of year! 🔥

More "extended summer" weather for MN for the next 5-7 days.  A low pressure/trough will move through Canada early in th...
26/09/2024

More "extended summer" weather for MN for the next 5-7 days. A low pressure/trough will move through Canada early in the week, may bring some rain to northern most parts of MN. Otherwise, more of this excellent weather is in the forecast through early next week.

Some sprinkles sneaking through the southern part of MN... Should clear way and warm up close to 70° across most of the ...
24/09/2024

Some sprinkles sneaking through the southern part of MN... Should clear way and warm up close to 70° across most of the state.

24/09/2024

Every storm is different. Don’t underestimate the danger if you’ve avoided impacts from previous storms. Even small differences in the storm path will have dramatic effects on the impacts to coastal and inland communities. Don’t wait, prepare today for the hazards expected later this week!
www.weather.gov/safety/hurricane

Cooler today but warming trend this week.  Could we hit 80's again Thursday?!  For those of you sick of all this warm we...
23/09/2024

Cooler today but warming trend this week. Could we hit 80's again Thursday?! For those of you sick of all this warm weather - frost advisories are starting to come in overnight, Duluth area and north.

20/09/2024

Video from yesterday... 2x speed. Near Cresco, IA. Was on one of the few severe warned cells. On radar, it actually looked classic supercell w/ hook, but all the low-level supportive shear was too far east. Still cool to see the vertical and horizontal movement of air. Other than some rain, and the stoplight in Mabel, IA....this was the most action I caught on the chase. Got some good photos though, I'll share soon.

20/09/2024

Curious how many folks here use Pivotal Weather? 👍

Confirmed tornado just north of Duluth. Broad Tornado watch issued for NE corner of Minnesota, including NW Wisconsin.
19/09/2024

Confirmed tornado just north of Duluth. Broad Tornado watch issued for NE corner of Minnesota, including NW Wisconsin.

Storm timing's off. Trying to get ahead of the cells just east of Lanesboro... Where there's better wind along the easte...
19/09/2024

Storm timing's off. Trying to get ahead of the cells just east of Lanesboro... Where there's better wind along the eastern MN border

19/09/2024

Eastern Minnesota will see a chance for thunderstorms today. If you're looking for a breakdown - here's my analysis before hitting the road for chase day!

[Expired]  And it begins... Latest Mesoscale Discussion for south eastern MN.
19/09/2024

[Expired] And it begins... Latest Mesoscale Discussion for south eastern MN.

Hey folks - here's a quick look at the end of the week.  Some storms rolling through MN today - should clear up for a bi...
19/09/2024

Hey folks - here's a quick look at the end of the week. Some storms rolling through MN today - should clear up for a bit, but then another round (potentially severe) this afternoon. Friday looks great! Sat/Sun come with addtl chances for rain/storms.
Today's severe storm breakdown coming later this morning. Have a great day!

For the Wx Nerds:   "Chance of Rain" is a relatively simply phrase that is commonly misunderstood.  Actually, for good r...
17/09/2024

For the Wx Nerds: "Chance of Rain" is a relatively simply phrase that is commonly misunderstood. Actually, for good reason. Simply telling someone that % only to have them disagree because they saw a different number - has led to doubts of what the number actually means.

Here's a breakdown of NWS' 7-day Forecast (weather.gov) and what POP means in that context... building upon the general understanding shared by MN Weather and Mike Augustyniak.

POP ("Probability of Precipitation") is what most people are referring to when they see/say "% chance of rain for {city_name}". It comes from model data shown on weather.gov page when you search for your city. (also see note at end about wide-area forecasts and misunderstandings)

So, when you see someone's 3-day, 5-day, 7-day, etc. forecast, they are most likely copying that same 7-day forecast data from weather.gov's site (or a mobile app using that same data). But....there are some important nuances with that forecast.

Definition: POP is defined as the "unconditional PROBABILITY that a LOCATION will receive an amount of rain equivalent precipitation that EQUALS or EXCEEDS 0.01 inches during a given TIME PERIOD".

PROBABILITY means: using similar past conditions as training, the model(s) predict a probability (%) for rain accumulation > 0.01 inches.
-- Is it possible to drizzle/flurry on/off all day and never accumulate more than 0.01" - sure, and if the model picked up on that, in theory the pop would be 0%.

LOCATION is also known as a "gridpoint". Gridpoints are 2.5km x 2.5km areas that contain a unique forecast. There are millions of them in the US. It is not actually "by city".
-- It is designed this way for efficiency and cost-benefit of running the models...but it also means another area that is only 2.5km (1.5mi) away...possibly in the same city....could be in a different gridpoint and therefore have a different POP%. Same goes for temps, wind, etc. and is why you sometimes see numbers off by 1° in different forecasts...even for the same "city".

side note: this is how I did my "State Fair" daily forecasts... by using the gridpoint for the actual fairgrounds.

TIME PERIOD is the range which the forecast is valid for. Using NWS's 7-day, there are two periods. Currently these are "Today" (6am - 6pm) & "Tonight" (6pm - 6am) for each of the 7 days.
-- The 7-day forecasts are constantly updating regularly, so "Today" is really "what's left of Today" and may change from seeing it earlier in the day.

side note: If rain is expected at 6:30pm - that will fall under "Tonight". This is also why you often see funny forecast messages like: "A Slight Chance Of Showers And Thunderstorms Then A Slight Chance Of Showers And Thunderstorms"

I reached out to my friend Mike Augustyniak the other day trying to get some clarification on the age old question of….

“What does a 20% chance of rain really mean”

Here is his response….. now we have the answer to that “Good Question”!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  I have a few updates to share this week.  Storm potential end of this week, La Ni...
16/09/2024

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I have a few updates to share this week. Storm potential end of this week, La Niña / climate, and a peek at Winter outlook. Stay tuned - have a great Monday!

SOAK THIS UP!  Great weather through the end of the week. Some smaller chances for rain Friday night through Sunday morn...
12/09/2024

SOAK THIS UP! Great weather through the end of the week. Some smaller chances for rain Friday night through Sunday morning. But, Sunday should close the weekend out with more sunshine!

Boom!  This could be the last week of summer vibes. But, what a treat: mid-80's...plus clear skies, light breeze, and wa...
09/09/2024

Boom! This could be the last week of summer vibes. But, what a treat: mid-80's...plus clear skies, light breeze, and warm evenings....all week!

Mrs. MN Chaser and I had a bonfire last night - the sunset was amazing. Looks like more of the same the next few days!

Seeing that 20% chance come to life….   A little line of storms moving across SW metro area.  Sub-severe at the moment (...
06/09/2024

Seeing that 20% chance come to life…. A little line of storms moving across SW metro area. Sub-severe at the moment (~30 mph winds)

I'm working on a bunch of fun projects that are starting to come to live.  Goal is to increase efficiency and bring the ...
06/09/2024

I'm working on a bunch of fun projects that are starting to come to live. Goal is to increase efficiency and bring the MNChaser page/community more wx-related info.

Thinking about these multi-day forecasts.... questions like:

-What if I could give you one of these EVERY DAY tailored to YOUR town? Are they helpful? What would be the 'perfect' way you want to view/receive that?

-OR are generalized forecasts "good enough" ? I see lots of forecasts for "Twin Cities" but not everyone lives near there! Same problem exists with TV forecasts.

-Do people like apps more because they get "location-specific" settings?

-What's missing between THIS type of image and what you get in a mobile app?

Fewer than originally predicted...but not a bad thing either!
05/09/2024

Fewer than originally predicted...but not a bad thing either!

It's been a fairly quiet tornado season so far in Minnesota with a preliminary total of 36 fairly weak tornadoes as of September 4. The 1991-2020 average in Minnesota for a season is 46. In 2023 there were 25. For comparison, Iowa has had a preliminary total of 113 tornadoes so far in 2024.

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