First severe risk area of 2020 posted for Minnesota overnight
Overnight thunderstorms could pack some hail
Welcome to the start of the 2020 severe weather season in Minnesota.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has issued a marginal risk area for west-central Minnesota during the overnight hours. The zone from Wheaton, through Alexandria, Little Falls and St. Cloud has the best chance for a few feisty storms overnight.
Warm front
A warm front nudges into southwest Minnesota overnight. You can clearly see the warmth with afternoon temperatures in the 70s to near 80 degrees in the high plains.
Midnight thunder
Warmer air near the ground will push underneath the still relatively cold air aloft overnight. As it does, the atmosphere across western Minnesota will destabilize in the hours surrounding midnight.
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That will likely generate a small band of thunderstorms overnight moving east. There is a risk for hail with storms that get going overnight.
NOAA’s NAM 3 km resolution model paints a small line of storms moving east between midnight and 7 a.m. Tuesday.
In this scenario, we could see a spotty thunderstorm or an April shower in the Twin Cities between about 6-8 a.m. Tuesday.
And so it begins.