Overnight showers; severe south; whispers of drought ahead?
We've earned this Minnesota.
The next two weeks might be some of the best spring weather of the year. The forecast maps suggest a string of sunny, mild days and cool nights starting Wednesday.
But first, a few showers. Areas from the Twin Cities south pick up some needed rainfall overnight. Scattered showers and T-Storms roam southern Minnesota into Wednesday morning.
A severe thunderstorm watch includes Albert Lea and the I-90 corridor through Rochester and La Crosse until 2 am CDT.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Farther north toward the Twin Cities, there is a marginal risk one or two storms could approach severe limits (1" diameter hail, 58 mph winds) overnight. But the overall severe risk for the metro remains very low.
Classic spring
The forecast calls for pleasant days ahead. Highs in the 60s and 70s are good tonic for the soul after a (too) long Minnesota winter. This is going to feel good people. No frost in sight for the Twin Cities, but scattered frost is still likely across most of central and northern Minnesota in the next two weeks.
Trending drier?
Our weather pattern is trending dry overall for the next two weeks. We're in for a well-deserved run of very pleasant spring weather. But I have a hunch we may be hearing the D-word (drought) tossed around soon.
The short term weather pattern favors a wetter storm track through Iowa. A couple of inches of rain could fall across Iowa and southern Wisconsin this week. Most of Minnesota will trend dry the next few days.
NOAA's 7-day rainfall outlook suggest heavy rains into Iowa, southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, but very little across Minnesota and the Dakotas.
NOAA's GFS model 16-day precip outlook suggests less than an inch of rain in the next 16 days. Of course this can change with one good local thunderstorm, but if it verifies things are going to get dry around parts of Minnesota in the next two weeks.
4th coldest April
We made it. The 4th coldest, and snowiest April on record is weather history.
Numbers courtesy of the Twin Cities NWS.
Buh-bye April.