5:31 PM Friday, September 15, 2023
Temperatures this weekend will be pretty close to where they should be for this time of the year with highs in the 60s both Saturday and Sunday with lows mostly in the 40s.
An upper-level system passing N/NE of the Northland will lead to the possibility for a few isolated showers this evening and again on Saturday, but the majority of the area should stay dry this weekend.
We are looking at a warming trend next week with temperatures on a few days getting into the 70s during the afternoon.
There is a chance that we could be getting into a more active weather pattern mid to late next week into next weekend with at least a few chances for rain the way it looks now.
A strong area of low-pressure is clearly visible on satellite imagery today as it moves east out of western Ontario.
Goes-16 visible satellite loop from Friday, September 15, 2032 (loop time ends 5 PM CT)
Goes-16 water vapor loop from Friday, September 15, 2023 (loop time ends 5 PM CT)
Another rain event in the Northland Thursday night into Friday morning, with the highest rain totals with this system over parts of northeast and east central Minnesota into northwest Wisconsin (Note, the map below only shows radar estimated rainfall totals through 4 AM Friday)
And here’s a look at radar rainfall estimates over the past 12 hours ending at 5 PM Friday.
Rainfall Reports from Thursday night-Friday September 14-15, 2023
Source: National Weather Service Duluth, Minnesota; MesoWest
Clam Lake, WI: 0.89″
Floodwood, MN: 0.87″
Hill City, MN: 0.71″
Hayward, WI: 0.71″
Hurley, WI: 0.54″
Duluth Airport: 0.54″
Glidden, WI: 0.53″
French River, MN: 0.47″
Saginaw, MN: 0.46″
McGregor, MN: 0.46″
Brimson, MN: 0.41″
Siren, WI: 0.41″
Washburn, WI: 0.40″
Poplar, WI: 0.36″
Two Harbors, MN: 0.35″
Hayward, WI: 0.32″
Hinckley, MN: 0.31″
Duluth Sky Harbor Airport: 0.26″
2 S Tower, MN: 0.25″
Brainerd, MN: 0.20″
Brainerd, MN: 0.19″
Isabella, MN: 0.19″
Esko, MN: 0.14″
Cook, MN: 0.11″
Minong, WI: 0.11″
Hibbing, MN: 0.08″
Solon Springs, WI: 0.07″
Cass Lake, MN: 0.05″
Embarrass, MN: 0.04″
Pine River, MN: 0.04″
Ely, MN: 0.04″
Littlefork, MN: 0.04″
Deer River, MN: 0.03″
Bigfork, MN: 0.02″
Note — 5.19 inches of precipitation so far this month at the Duluth Airport, this is +3.41 inches above average to date, and is 292% of normal precipitation to date.
Drought Update as of September 12, 2023
We’ve seen some improvement in the drought in parts of the Northland this week, and this is especially true near Lake Superior.
Minnesota
1% of the state is in Exceptional Drought, unchanged from last week.
19% of the state is in Extreme Drought, up from 16% last week.
61% of the state is in Severe Drought, up from 54% last week.
98% of the state is in Moderate Drought, up from 85% last week.
100% of the state is Abnormally Dry, up from 99% last week.
Wisconsin
1% of the state is in Exceptional Drought, down from 2% last week.
21% of the state is in Extreme Drought, down from 24% last week.
59% of the state is in Severe Drought, down from 58% last week.
86% of the state is in Moderate Drought, up from 84% last week.
97% of the state is Abnormally Dry, up from 96% last week.
Green area on the map below represents a 1 class improvement.
Gray area represents no change.
1 Week Drought Monitor Class Change — September 12, 2023, compared to September 5, 2023.
Additional Precipitation Needed to end the current drought for the weekly period ending September 9, 2023.
All of northwest Wisconsin and east central Minnesota needs an additional 9 to 12 inches of precipitation to end the drought.
All of northeast Minnesota needs an additional 6 to 9 inches of precipitation to end the drought.
Thanks for reading!
Tim