Aurora watch, Hurricane Matthew rapidly reaches Cat 4
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It could be another wild night in the skies above Minnesota.
A G2 class geomagnetic storm continues to bombard earth's magnetosphere with a brisk solar wind. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center continues a geomagnetic storm watch Friday night.
Sky-watchers in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest could see another northern lights show overnight into Saturday morning.
Dodging clouds
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Tonight's aurora plays hide and seek behind an increasing cloud deck. The swirling low pressure center that nudged far enough east to give us a brilliantly sunny Friday is sliding back west. This 'system retrograde' pushes clouds back westward into Minnesota overnight and Saturday. A second front to the west puts an atmospheric squeeze play on sunshine for Minnesota Saturday.
The blocking pattern means Minnesota rides between weather systems the next few days.
We'll see more clouds Saturday, with increasing sun once again Sunday into early next week. Dry skies prevail until next Tuesday night, a welcome respite from the wettest summer on record for many.
All in all, a great first weekend of in October in Minnesota.
Hurricane Matthew explodes
Hurricane Matthew may be setting some records with his explosive development in the Caribbean. Matthew exploded into an impressive but scary Category 4 hurricane in just a few hours Friday.
Matthew's winds reached 140 mph Friday, a Category 4 monster. Matthew is now the strongest hurricane of the Atlantic season so far.
The rapid drop in central pressure makes Matthew one of the strongest storms in many years.
According to satellite derived DVORAK estimates, Matthew may already be a borderline Cat 5 storm.
The official NHC track takes Matthew dangerously close to Jamaica, then over eastern Cuba. The U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay could be in the path.
Jamaica could be in line for a potentially devastating hit from Matthew this weekend. Category 4 Matthew could be the stongest hurricane ever to hit Jamaica.
The latest model trends favor a path just off the east coast of the USA, but it's still early to be breathing a sigh of relief.
Stay tuned.