The High Wind Warning for Polk, Barron, St Coix and Dunn Counties has been cancelled

The Wind Advisory for Burnett and Washburn counties has been cancelled

Sigificant System Bringing the potienal for Very High Winds and heavy rain. Then turning cold by Wednesday with snow flurries possible Updated X1

Regional View

A significant weather system is rolling towards the Upper Midwest for early this week. Very high winds are possible in South Dakota, Southern Minnesota, Most of Wisconsin, Northern Iowa and Illinois, Heavy rain is also possible in MN,WI and Northern IA as well as upper MI, Behind this system it will be cold, with wind driven snow is possible in parts of Northwest Minnesota, where light accumulations are possible.

Local View

Note: I've added Thursday forecast due to the long duration of the upcoming system. Due to this systems significance there will be no long term forecast as I keep up to date on the current one. This forecast is subject to changes as we go through the upcoming days.

A Significantly strong weather system is heading towards the area Monday, it will alter our weather for all of the next 4 days. A deepening low pressure system will move from North Dakota to Northern Minnesota, It will drag a very strong cold front with it which will pass through on Tuesday, very high winds are possible ahead and behind this front, wind gusts up to 55MPH are possible. This front will also be the focus for wind driven rain showers, some of this rain could be heavy at times especially Tuesday, we could have over an inch of rain with this system. Wednesday Very strong winds will continue early Wednesday appears when we have the highest winds gusting up to 55MPH, especially early. Much colder air will rush down on these winds, highs Wednesday will likely struggle to reach the low 40s, with wind chills well into the 30s, It will feel very cold and blustery and there will be wind driven rain showers around, Late Wednesday winds will finally start to slow down some. Thursday will be another cold day but not as windy. Some of the left over light rain showers may turn to snow flurries or snow showers. At first it did not look like accumulation was likely, but now it appears some cold air may come soon enough for minor snow accumulations mainly 1 inch or less., Lows Thursday Night will likely fall into the 20s, The coldest air of the season so far is likely with this system!

Very High Wind Potential

Breezy conditions with this system will start as early as Monday afternoon, but As the low pressure approaches and cold front nears, very high W to NNW winds are possible our strongest winds will likely hit on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Sustained winds of 20-30MPH are possible, with gusts as strong as 55MPH. The local National Weather Service is even warning for wind gust potential to reach as strong as 60MPH with this storm system. Winds this Strong could cause trees to come down, weak deciduous trees, very late turning deciduous trees, and trees with needles such as Spruce or Pine pose the highest risks of breakage. Minor Structural damage is also possible with winds this strong. Communities with open fields and locations in higher areas are highest at risk for 55-60MPH winds, This includes my location. This storm has the potential to bring the strongest winds in a storm system the local area has seen in many years. People in the location area should prepare for very strong winds, take in loose objects and monitor trees closely, a High wind watch is in effect for parts of the area.

Monday, Cloudy with a chance of drizzle. Turning breezy. Highs in the upper 50s. Monday Night, Breezy, Cloudy Skies with a chance of rain late. Lows in the low 50s.

Tuesday, Blustery and Cool with a good chance of rain. Very Windy, West winds gusting as high as 45 to 50MPH at times. Heavy Rain is possible. Highs in the low 50s Tuesday Night Light Rain Continuing, Very windy, West Northwest winds as high as 45MPH.

Wednesday, Cold! A few rain showers, Very Windy wind gusts of 40MPH to 55MPH possible especially early then winds slowing. Highs in the low 40s, Wind chills in the 30s. Wednesday Night, light drizzle possibly turning to snow flurries or snow showers late lows in the mid 30s, minor accumulations possible up to 1"

Thursday, Cold! snow flurries or snow showers early, light drizzle or rain late. Minor accumulations possible up to an inch. Breezy with highs in the low 40s. Thursday Night, Cold Partial Clearing with lows in the upper 20s to low 30s

Chilly Thursday, then warming up with higher rainfall chances by Saturday. Thanksgiving Cactus getting buds! Pictures included.

Regional weather view, with location of Low and fronts for Saturday.

The end of the week will end on a dry and quite chilly note for the Upper Midwest. Hard frosts are possible through all of Northern and Central Minnesota,Northern Wisconsin and Michigan. A system will being to approach Friday, but skies will be sunny and temperatures will warm up as warm air is forced ahead of the system. Saturday this system will bring rainfall chances to Southern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Local View

Locally we can expect a very chilly start to Thursday. Lows Thursday morning will be in the upper 20s to low 30s, some places could fall to there coldest temperatures of the season so far. Even with sunshine during the day Thursday highs will only warm to the low to mid 50s, lows Thursday night will be chilly once again in the low to mid 30s. Friday will be much warmer with Sunshine continuing it will be the nicest day in the next 3. Highs should manage low 60s, with lows in the low 40s. Saturday will bring the first chance at more significant rain this area has seen in 3 weeks, It will be cloudy most of Saturday, with highs because of the clouds in the low 50s. Rainfall should begin in the evening hours, The best chance of rain will be in St Croix in Dunn Counties. Other places may remain cloudy with no rainfall. Either way this fall looks to be nothing over o.50" if even that, Sunday the rain ends early, but skies remain mostly cloudy, highs will be in the low 50s and lows in the upper 30s to low 40s.

Thursday, Very chilly in the morning, Lows starting off in the upper 20s north to low 30s south. Chilly through the day. With sunny skies and highs in the low to mid 50s. Thursday Night, Clear Skies, lows in the low to mid 30s.

Friday, Much warmer, Sunny skies with highs in the low 60s. Friday Night, Partly Cloudy with lows in the low 40s

Saturday, Partly cloudy turning mostly cloudy, highs in the low 50s. Saturday Night, a chance of rain showers, best chances south, lows in the low 40s

Sunday, A chance of rain early then partly sunny skies, with highs in the low 50s. Sunday Night, Mostly Cloudy, lows in the upper 30s to low 40s.

Looking Ahead

The looking ahead forecast continues to look very interesting for next week. First we start with Monday looks fair with partly sunny conditions. Then our attention is turned to Tuesday the 26th which is the start of a very interesting system. The models show a strong cold front slams through the Upper Midwest, bringing rain showers and potentially strong winds with the passing of this front. then Wednesday the 27th the models show very cold air funneling in behind this system. Highs will at this point look likely be in the low to Mid 30s, with lows well down into the 20s. Cold air remains entrenched over the area Thursday and Friday the 28th-29th as the system does a loop around in Central Canada with a system around this cold air mass, It may bring our 1st snowfall of the season. This system also looks like it could bring strong winds on Thursday the 28th. Saturday the models show snow chances coming to an end. with warmer weather and rainfall chances by Sunday the 31st lasting through Nov 1st. Then Tuesday November 2nd the models show a second interesting system one that appears very winter- like. This one brings cold air in faster changing preip to snow by Wednesday the 3rd turning the flurries by Thursday the 4th, this system has the chance to bring our 1st significant snowfall, and Behind this system the models show an even colder air mass then the 1st one. More on the second system in upcoming weeks. This appears to be the start of cold and possibly snowy pattern for us for the rest of this month into next moth. Please stay tuned to my forecasts in the upcoming week because things will be changing between now at then.

Old fashioned Pink Thanksgiving/Christmas Cactus

My Thanksgiving Cactus are swelling with 100s of buds in a promise to bring another beautiful display this year. My entire small collections has formed buds now, Which seeems bit early then last year, by about a week or two. The one above was taking as cuttings from my aunts 50 year old plant.

Yellow flowering Thanksgiving Cactus buds

This one above is one of my favorite colors. It came in to bloom by the 14th on Nov last year, It appears like it may be aiming for that same date this year!Red Thanksgiving Cactus buds.

I love watching these plants form buds in the fall with hardly no extra efford for me after they have been so green all summer! I will post photos when they start opening, just as I did last year!

Trees lost their leaves much earlier then last year. Compare photos

Compared photo of the Nearly leafless Front yard Oct 16th 2010

Most trees across the local area are already completely bare, many people have noticed how fast they turned and dropped. The fall color process went very fast. We went from Low color to peak in less then 2 weeks time! This was one of the fastest times to peak color I've ever experienced. The small green tree in the middle is my Bald Cypress and the green bush beyond that are lilacs, which are normally very late turning trees.

Front yard Compare photo Oct 24th 2009

Here are two photos showing how even at a later date then this time last year, most trees still had their leaves! The second photo was taken during one of the several snowfalls we had last year in Oct, we had over 5 inches of snow last year in October, what an odd year that was! Last year we did not reach the stage in leaf loss we are currently until November 11th. This is more then 3 weeks earlier that we had trees total leafless then last year! This has most people wondering why they went so fast. There are several factors as to why this happened. One major one is that we had a much earlier start to the growing season this spring, it started about 3 weeks earlier then normal, but, another huge factor in the fast leaf drop were the very warm temperatures we had in the middle of the month. We had a week of 70 and 80 degree temperatures from the 5th through the 12th. Warm conditions such as this cause tree leaves to riping, turn colors and fall off faster then normal. Last year everyone remembers we had a much cooler then normal October, with several snowfalls. The cool conditions acted as a refrigerator to the trees, much like as a re fridge acts when we store fruit to keep them fresh longer, This is the major reason why it was much earlier then last year. Despite the fast leaf loss, fall colors was significantly better then is was last year, when early freezes ruined our chance at nice colors, by this time last year we had already recived 3.25" of snow, this year so far, None!

Turning a bit chilly upcoming days then slight rain chances Monday

Regional View


We've got a cooler northwest flow pattern for us the next few days. It will be a bit chilly across the entire region, Monday a weak system will bring some slight rain chances to mainly Minnesota and Wisconsin, It will clear out by Tuesday and temperatures will turn more fair for this time of year.

Local View

Locally we can expect a chilly rest of our weekend. It will be partly cloudy Sunday with highs in the mid 50s, which is the coolest we've been in a bit. Monday will be quite chilly with a slight shot at a few rain showers, the chance is small, but it's there, Best chances would be a quick shot then it's done. High temperatures will only rise to the upper 40s to low 50s. Making way for a dry Tuesday, with Sunny Skies moving back into our picture. Low temperatures the next few days will be cooler then they have been with lows in the mid to upper 30s every night, Sunday Morning will be our coldest night with lows in the upper 20s to low 30s, but this is actually considered around average for this time of year so it will not cause problems

Sunday, Very Chilly early Partly Cloudy, Highs in the mid 50s. Sunday Night Partly Cloudy turning Mostly Cloudy, lows in the upper 30s all areas.

Monday, Very Chilly, a slight chances of light showers in the afternoon, otherwise Mostly Cloudy with highs in the upper 40s to low 50s. Monday Night, Mostly Cloudy lows in the upper 30s

Tuesday, Partly Cloudy Skies, highs in the Mid 50s Tuesday Night, Partly Cloudy lows in the low to mid 30s

Looking Ahead

The forecast models a pointing towards a cool rest of the week, but it will be a bit warmer then the starting of the week with a slight warm up on Wednesday as a weak low pressure system passes north. This system has the potential to bring 1st snowflakes to Northern Minnesota and Upper Michigan. but we should remain dry. The system will bring down much colder air to our area by Thursday, Highs temps in our local area could be the coolest they have been so far with highs potentially as cool as the low 40s, Lows could fall into the 20s in all areas, Thursday Night. It warms up just in time for the weekend, The model shows a dry weekend as well. on Tuesday Oct. 26th it shows a more interesting system potentially moving in with good rainfall chances on the front side of the system, As the system passes it draws cooler air and it could turn to light snow is parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, it is too early to tell if it will turn to snow this far south. It drys out and warms up by the 28th and remains dry with fair temps for until the 30th when more light rainfall chances move in, toward the very end of the model is shows then warming up for 1 day then cooling back down once again. This is the time of year forecasting models can say something different each day, please stay turned for future forecasts.

Fall Color Report #7 Peaked very fast. Most locations now Past Peak

Fall Color Report #7

Fall Color peaked, and passed very quickly in the local area, Most locations are now past peak, All of the Northern and Central locations have past their peak, the only acceptation is Hudson which is at peak now.

At my location I am officially reporting Past Peak conditions, The most colorful trees only lasted about 1 week long before the leaves fell. It was the fastest time to peak, and peak I've ever experienced and it is notably early this year as well by about 2 weeks. Most trees seen on the landscape are either brown or leafless only very late turning trees such as Hemlock, Sliver Maple have leaves left leaving 95% of trees bare. In my yard all Oaks have long past peaked and are now joining our 2 ash trees in being leafless, my new Red Maple is now bare, Very few trees actually remain green in our yard. The lilac bushed remain primarily green, but are starting to change color. Our Apricot has turned yellow and is at peak and quickly loosing leaves, our Apple Tree is starting to turn yellow-green. The only trees not showing signs of color are the Willows and my young Bald Cypress which remain as green as they were in July!

Mild air turning more seasonible by Wednesday

Regional View





The rest of this week will start off very mild and it will end out more seasonal as a cold front moves through, there is only a slight chance of scattered showers Tuesday afternoon with the cold front then it's back to sunshine with more October-like temperatures.



Local View

Locally Tuesday will start off very mild for this time of year with highs in the upper 70s in the afternoon, it will be quite nice, but in the afternoon/evening there is a chance of a few scattered light rain showers, it will be light and it should not cause problems. Wednesday will be a bit breezy and much cooler with sunny skies and highs in the low 60s, which is more seasonable for this time of year. Wednesday night lows will fall into the 30s and frost is a good possibility, but the growing season has ended across the area and it will not cause concerns. Temps will slowly moderate starting Thursday

Tuesday, Mild, Partly Cloudy then turning Mostly Cloudy, a chance of a few light showers in the afternoon/evening, Highs in the upper 70s Tuesday Night, Cooler lows in the mid 40s

Wednesday, Much Cooler, Sunny Skies with highs in the low 60s, Breezing Northwest winds. Wednesday Night, Clear Skies, lows in the upper 30s south to Mid 30s north.

Thursday, Sunny skies, highs in the mid 60s Thursday Night, Clear, lows in the low 40s south upper 30s north.

Looking Ahead

As we head into the starting of next weekend things look seasonable and dry with sunny skies. heading into next week looks slightly more active, Tuesday the 19th the models show something more interesting. it looks like we have our first chance of more significant rain we've had in awhile, The model also shows cold air wrapping in behind this system which could bring the 1st snowfall to parts of Northern Minnesota and far Northern Wisconsin, This may have to be watched closely, after the passing of this storm it looks warmer and dry for Thursday the 21st through the 22nd. Then the models show a significant cold front coming down from Canada by the 26th, very cold temps are possible. things will be changing a lot before this time so be sure to check back often.