Milder temperatures return, with afternoon/evening thunderstorm chances
An isolated severe thunderstorm is possible Saturday and Saturday night
Friday felt like late October. Today will feel like September, and Sunday will feel a bit like August in some locations. Don’t you love our changeable weather?
Temperature trends
Saturday afternoon highs will range from the lower 80s in parts of southwestern Minnesota to the 60s in north-central and northeastern Minnesota. There will be a lot of 70s in between, with mid 70s possible in the Twin Cities metro area.
Sunday highs feature mostly 70s in northern and central Minnesota, with some 80s in the far south:
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Twin Cities metro area highs will reach around 80 on Sunday. We haven’t seen 80 degrees or warmer at MSP airport since August 20.
Highs in the 80s expand across much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Monday:
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 80s Tuesday, followed by lower 80s Wednesday and upper 70s Thursday and Friday.
Rain and thunder chances
Some showers are expected to spread across parts of far northern Minnesota as we go through Saturday afternoon and evening. West-central Minnesota looks dry today, but the remainder of central and southern Minnesota, plus western Wisconsin, will have a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms as we go through Saturday afternoon and evening.
An isolated severe thunderstorm is possible. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center shows a marginal risk of severe weather Saturday and Saturday night for portions of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, and west-central Wisconsin. Here is the Twin Cities NWS discussion of the marginal severe risk in the dark-green shaded area:
The NWS Storm Prediction Center will update the severe weather outlook around midday and around mid-afternoon.
As always, updated weather information can be heard on the MPR network, and you’ll also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
The ground is saturated in many parts of southern Minnesota, and additional rain could cause flash flooding in some areas. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch from 7 p.m. this Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday for parts of southeastern Minnesota. The watch includes Dodge, Olmsted, Mower, Fillmore, and Houston counties. Rochester and Austin are a couple of cities in the flash flood watch.
Tropical Storm Humberto
Tropical Storm Humberto is bringing heavy rain and strong winds to portions of the northwestern Bahamas today.
The National Hurricane Center forecasts this track for the center of Humberto over the next few days:
Here are details on how Humberto will affect the northwestern Bahamas:
Fall colors
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has issued a fall color report that shows spotty color in parts of Minnesota:
A Wisconsin fall color report is also available.
It’s very early in our fall color season. Our beautiful fall colors should really start to dazzle in two to three weeks.
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.