Sunday rainfall set a record; temperatures rebound this week

Rain shifts eastward Sunday night and Monday

It rained and rained and rained some more on Sunday.

The weekend rainfall total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 2.81 inches through 4 p.m. Sunday. Some of that total (.46 of an inch) was from Saturday evening. MSP’s Sunday rainfall total was 2.35 inches through 4 p.m., setting a new Twin Cities rainfall record for May 17:

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Twin Cities climate summary through 4 p.m. Sunday
National Weather Service

The old record was 1.81 inches, set in 2017. It rained past 4 p.m. on Sunday, so the final tally will be higher.

Some other weekend rain totals through mid-afternoon on Sunday included 2.23 inches in Maple Grove, 3.42 inches in Woodbury, 3.16 inches in Faribault and 4 inches in Zumbrota.

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There were also some impressive totals to the southeast, with additional rain expected into Sunday night:

The final weekend rainfall totals will be posted later by the National Weather Service.

The rain pattern will gradually shift eastward Sunday evening and overnight Sunday night. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Sunday evening through Monday afternoon:

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Simulated radar Sunday evening through Monday afternoon
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

You may notice that scattered showers are possible Monday in southeastern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin.

Much nicer to the northwest on Sunday

While many of us were dealing with soaking rains and cool temperatures Sunday afternoon, there was plenty of sunshine in northwestern and north-central Minnesota::

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Satellite loop from Sunday afternoon
NOAA, via College of DuPage

I saw a lot of temps in the lower 70s in the sunny areas Sunday afternoon, and I saw a 75 degree reading at 5 p.m. in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Temperatures rebound

Areas that had Sunday highs in the 50s will see temps recover a bit on Monday. Highs in the 60s are expected to the east and southeast, with 70s to the northwest:

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Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 60s on Monday, followed by lower 70s Tuesday, upper 70s on Wednesday and lower 80s Thursday and Friday.

It’ll be a breezy Monday, with gusts over 20 mph at times:

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

Plotted gusts are in knots, with 21 knots equal to 24 mph.

Warmer than normal next weekend and beyond

The NWS Climate Prediction Center’s temperature outlook for next weekend into the beginning of the following week shows a tendency for above-normal temps in Minnesota and Wisconsin:

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Temperature outlook May 23 through May 27
NWS Climate Prediction Center

We’ll see if that pans out.

I hope that you have a good week!