Summery Saturday, Doppler mayfly attacks continue

They say you can't please all of the people all of the time. That's definitely true with weather.

But, chances are you'll find your favorite type of summer weather this weekend in Minnesota.

I've talked with many of you this summer about our cooler than average weather so far. My informal and completely unscientific analysis of your weather anecdotes indicates:

• 75 percent of Minnesotans are happy with the milder days with low humidity.

• 15 percent of Minnesotans would like more heat and humidity.

• 10 percent are undecided.

But than again, 10 percent of people are usually undecided about anything right?

The good weather news? I think our weather will make about 90 percent of all Minnesotans happy at some point this weekend. You'll find what you like sometime in the next few days. You'll just have to pick your spots.

Weekend split: steamy Saturday, showery Sunday

Saturday brings a true summer day to Minnesota. Temps push well into the upper 80s, and dew points in the sticky 60s may cause you to flee to the nearest beach. Dew points should drop considerably in the afternoon hours, making Saturday one of the 10 best days of summer in this weather geek's humble opinion.

The next Canadian cool front brings scattered showers and more free AC Sunday into next week.

Our next cool front ushers in another shot of what we lovingly call "northwest flow" in these parts. Translation? More delightfully cool and comfy free AC from Canada into next week.

It's a windows open forecast into early next week. Now we just need to work on the timing of these fronts. Can we get the best weather on weekends please for the rest of summer? Temps in the upper 70s and low 80s next week with comfy 50s dew points.

You just can't draw it up any better than this.

Did I mention it's good to be the weatherman these days?

Lucky strike

Circling the airport waiting to land has it's advantages. A few more minutes of sky watching?

Check out this amazingly lucky cell shot at precisely the right moment in the skies over Denver as a bolt from an isolated thundershower strikes.

One of the cool things about storm watching in the west is with so much visibility and relatively dry and clear ambient air around storms you can see them for miles. Some of the most amazing lighting shows I have seen are during the North American Monsoon in Tucson, Arizona.

Doppler Night of the Mayflies

The National Weather Service upgrade to Dual-Polarized Doppler has made it easier for us weather geeks to see many things so much clearer.

Gust fronts. Hail cores. Tornado vortex signatures.

Tracking mayfly swarms?

No doubt you've seen this incredible loop of the La Crosse, Wisconsin, National Weather Service Doppler capturing last Sunday evening's massive mayfly explosion by now.

Yes the photos of billions of Mayflies are like a B-movie horror flick.

https://twitter.com/paulmhuddleston/statuses/491045435906490368

Here's the detailed description form the La Crosse NWS.

Another Massive Mayfly Emergence!

The Evening of July 20, 2014

On an evening very similar to the massive mayfly event of June 23 2012, the Mississippi River produced a massive radar echo as mayflies emerged from the water and became airborne. The mayflies were detectable on radar around 845 pm and reports in the towns and cities began rolling in of the swarming and piles of mayflies. Numerous videos and pictures were circulating on social media, some of which are posted below as well.

The radar detected the flies about 845 pm, emanating from the river (the source) with echo values similar to that of light-moderate rain (35-40 dBZ). With a general south-to-north wind flow above the surface, the mayflies quickly moved north once in the air. As the flies dispersed moving north-northeast, they also gained altitude with some of the echo being detected as far north as Black River Falls and as high as 2500 feet above ground.

By late evening, mayflies were swarming in La Crosse, La Crescent, Stoddard and points up and down the river. While the emergence of mayflies from their river bottom mud dwelling can occur at various times through the warm season depending on the species, this particular emergence was that of the larger black/brown Bilineata species. The radar loop below shows the reflected radar energy (reflectivity) from 835 pm to just after midnight. The higher the values (greens to yellows) indicate greater concentrations of flies. Note how the swarm is carried northward over time. 

Another minor eruption happened Thursday evening.

There's some possibility that a large hatch could occur in St Paul over the next few days.

Suddenly the scattered showers in the forecast for Sunday don't seem so bad.