A beautiful Friday; thunderstorm chances north by Saturday night

If we had on-demand weather, many of us would probably order up a day like Friday.

Most of Minnesota will have plenty of sunshine and comfortable temperatures. Parts of west-central Minnesota will have patchy clouds and a chance of a brief shower.

Dew point temps will be comfortable too.  We can give our air conditioners a rest!

Temperature trends

Friday afternoon highs are expected to reach the lower 80s in about the southern half of Minnesota, with mostly upper 70s north.

We'll see 80s across most of the state on Saturday:

A few spots in the northwest could top 90 degrees.

80s will be common on Sunday:

Looking ahead a bit, Twin Cities highs will probably reach the middle 80s Monday, followed by upper 80s to around 90 next Tuesday and Wednesday. The outlook for late next week and the following weekend is for warmer-than-normal temps.

Rain chances

There's a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms in northern Minnesota late Saturday night and Sunday.

Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms Sunday night and early on Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Saturday evening through Monday morning:

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of rain.

Updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and updates are also posted on the MPR News live weather blog.

Flooding update

The Twin Cities office of the NWS has flood warnings shaded green on their main page:

You can click on the map on the NWS site to get updated warning details.

Here are a few specific flood warnings:

Flood Statement

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

1048 PM CDT Thu Jul 5 2018

...The flood warning continues for the following rivers in

Minnesota...

Cottonwood River at New Ulm affecting Brown County

.Overview...The Cottonwood River in New Ulm is now expected to

crest at 19.0 feet by tomorrow morning.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Do not drive cars through flooded areas. Turn Around...Don`t Drown.

Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio or your local radio or TV station

for the latest information concerning this flood event.

&&

MNC015-070948-

/O.EXT.KMPX.FL.W.0030.000000T0000Z-180713T0800Z/

/NWUM5.3.ER.000000T0000Z.180706T1200Z.180712T1400Z.NR/

1048 PM CDT Thu Jul 5 2018

...Flood Warning now expected to end Friday July 13...The Flood

Warning continues for

The Cottonwood River at New Ulm.

* until Friday July 13.

* At 10:00 PM Thursday the stage was 18.2 feet.

* Major flooding is occurring and Major flooding is forecast.

* Flood stage is 11.0 feet.

* Forecast...The river will continue rising to near 19.0 feet by

tomorrow morning. The river will fall below flood stage late

Thursday morning.

* Impact...At 13.1 feet...Flood waters begin to impact Cottonwood

Street west of the river.

* Impact...At 11.0 feet...Flood waters begin to impact low lying

areas...and some roads along the river.

You can also find graphical NWS updates on river levels for many spots around Minnesota throughout the day and night.

If the location of interest is not listed there, try the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service page and click on a location for river level details and forecasts.

The latest hydrograph for the Cottonwood River at New Ulm, Minn., shows that it is at major flood stage:

First Atlantic Hurricane of 2018

Tropical Storm Beryl became a hurricane this morning:

Hurricane season runs from June through November, and peaks from mid August into October:

Forecasters won't just be watching Hurricane Beryl this weekend; a tropical depression could form off the coast of North Carolina:

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.