Pretty good weekend; lucky lightning guy survives strike

Rain chances overnight Saturday night; Mostly nice days this weekend

Weekend outlook
Weekend outlook
Twin Cities National Weather Service

We can count them on one hand now.

The last few weekends of a fleeting Minnesota summer are here. This one looks pretty good overall. Highs in the upper 70s and low 80s will be common. Most of the rain should fall at night. There will be plenty of good hours for outdoor activities this weekend.

Saturday night thunder

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale 3 km resolution model paints a broken line of thunderstorms across western Minnesota Saturday evening. The remnants most likely reach the Twin Cities in the wee overnight hours once again.

NOAA NAM 3 km resolution model
NOAA NAM 3 km resolution model rainfall projection from 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday.
NOAA via Weather Bell

Lucky lightning guy

Speaking of thunder, the video making the rounds of this guy getting grazed by a lightning strike is stunning. It appears to have struck the umbrella he was holding.

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Summer — for now

Temperatures over the next week still feel like late summer. Thursday’s State Fair opener looks very pleasant: 80-on-a-stick?

NOAA temperature forecast for Minneapolis
NOAA temperature forecast for Minneapolis
NOAA via Weather Bell

Hints of September?

The longer range upper air pattern shows signs of September. The models had been hinting at possible heat the last week of August. Now the opposite trend is emerging. The upper air maps suggest cooler northwest flow across the Upper Midwest.

NOAA 500 millibar upper air map
NOAA 500 millibar upper air map for 7 p.m. Aug. 30.
NOAA

This flow pattern would bring cooler than average temperatures in late August into early September.

Stay tuned.