Mild weekend temps; full Hunter’s moon

Our average high temperature for October 15 is 59 degrees in the Twin Cities.

We'll over-achieve in the temperature department this weekend. 60s will be common across Minnesota this Saturday, with some spots in the south touching or topping 70.

Central and southern Minnesota could see 70 degrees or warmer Sunday afternoon:

Monday is also looking warmer than normal:

Twin Cities highs return to the 60s on Tuesday, and highs will be in the 50s Wednesday through Friday.

Windy out west

A  very strong low pressure system is bringing high winds and heavy rain to much of the west coast. High wind warnings extend along the coast from Washington state to northern California:

Hurricane force winds are possible just offshore.

The National Weather Service has a clickable warning map.

Another low pressure system could bring another episode of high winds and rain to the northwest late Sunday:

Full moon

The U.S. Naval Observatory is our best source of sun and moon rise/set information.

A USNO form is easy to fill out for any desired location.

Here's what it shows for today:

The full Hunter's moon rises at 6:34 p.m. CDT today.

According to EarthSky.org:

In skylore, every full moon has many names, and most are tied to the months of the year. But some moons are tied to seasons, such as the Harvest and Hunter’s Moons. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. The Hunter’s Moon is the full moon after the Harvest Moon. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the 2016 autumnal equinox came on September 22, and the September 16 full moon was the Northern Hemisphere’s Harvest Moon. So the full moon on the night of October 15-16 is the Northern Hemisphere’s Hunter’s Moon, and what’s more it’s a supermoon!

EarthSky.org adds:

In some months, the full moon is closer to us in orbit than others. The 2016 Hunter’s Moon does happen to be particularly close. It’s near perigee, the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit.

Nowadays, people call these close full moons supermoons.

Some don’t like the word supermoon … but we like it. Full moons at their closest to Earth do look brighter. They have a larger-than-usual effect on earthly tides. Although most of us can’t detect that a supermoon appears larger to the eye, very careful and experienced observers say it’s possible.

We could have patchy clouds this evening, but should be able to see the full moon at times.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.