The first severe weather outbreak of the season is possible today in Southern Minnesota into Western Wisconsin:
This is being fueled by a frontal boundary separating much cooler air over our neck of the woods compared to 70s and 80s from Sioux Falls to the Twin Cities:
Unfortunately, the warmer air will not make it north until Wed/Thur. of this week. Those 2 days are our pick days of the week with 60s to near 70 returning to the area.
Also, El Nino conditions are developing in the equatorial Pacific:
There is now an El Niño Watch that has been issued by the Climate Prediction Center. This is already being hyped up quite a bit, and it is something we will be monitoring closely in the coming months.
However, it is important to be clear: there is not an El Niño yet. We are currently transitioning out of a La Niña winter, with the tropical Pacific Ocean steadily warming.
This is an evolving situation, and while the signals are beginning to emerge, the atmosphere has not fully responded yet. We will be discussing this developing phenomenon and how it may begin influencing the weather pattern later this year.
