Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Weekend forecast: Soaking rains for many; driest in far northern Minnesota

We could see more than an inch of rain this weekend

Many parts of Minnesota and western Wisconsin have been much drier than normal over the past two weeks. That’s about to change.

A low-pressure system will track to our south and southeast this weekend, spinning rain over much of Minnesota. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon:

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Simulated radar Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

If you’re going to be in the Twin Cities metro area this weekend, you can expect the steadiest rains from late Saturday afternoon into the overnight hours of Saturday night plus early Sunday. There could also be some embedded thunderstorms at times.

Scattered showers are also possible in the metro area before and after the period of steadiest rains.

The NAM model shows an inch of rain or more this weekend for the Twin Cities metro area, most of southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

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NAM precipitation totals through Sunday afternoon
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Weekend temps and winds

Our average Twin Cities high temp is 69 degrees on May 16. We expect highs in the Twin Cities metro area close to 70 degrees this Saturday. Many spots in Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see highs in the 60s:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Portions of northeastern Minnesota will have highs in the 50s Saturday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon wind gusts of 15-20 mph are possible in eastern Minnesota plus western Wisconsin:

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Saturday 1 p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Plotted gusts are in knots, with 15 knots equal to 17 mph. Much higher gusts can be expected near any thunderstorms that develop.

Sunday high temps will be warmest in northwestern Minnesota, where ample sunshine may deliver some lower 70s:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

There will be a lot of 60s elsewhere, and some 50s in northeastern and southeastern Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin. The Twin Cities metro area could reach 60 degrees Sunday afternoon, with wind gusts of 15-22 mph at times:

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Sunday 1 p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Highs in the 70s return to the Twin Cities on Monday, with a shot at 80 on Tuesday. That’ll feel downright summery!