Dry and sunny weather finally returns
High in the 80s Wednesday, then temperatures turn cooler
After areas of heavy rain Tuesday, the rest of the week brings drier skies and more sunshine back across the state. Temperatures will be cooler by the weekend.
Recap of Tuesday’s weather
Tuesday brought rain across almost all of Minnesota, ranging from at least a tenth of an inch for most of western Minnesota to half an inch in eastern Minnesota. But, numerous places that fell under heavier rain bands or thunderstorms saw much higher totals.
Here are the rain totals of over 2 inches, most of which came around the Twin Cities (“Time” indicates the time of the report, not when the rain ended):
Some of the stronger thunderstorms not only produced heavy rain, but there were a few reports of wind damage in southeastern Minnesota, mostly from downed tree limbs.
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Wednesday’s forecast
Except for the very edge of Lake Superior, where a dense fog advisory continues until 1 p.m., morning fog has lifted and sunshine is spreading across the state. The recent active weather has finally cleared most of Minnesota, so under sunnier and drier conditions, much of the state will see highs in the 80s.
For parts of central Minnesota, it will be the first 80s of the season. The Twin Cities only just hit the 80s for the first time this year on Tuesday, which was over three weeks later than average.
A lingering area of instability has already brought a few showers to southeastern Minnesota Wednesday morning. That corner of the state keeps a slight chance for occasional showers and a few isolated storms through the day and possibly into Thursday too.
Extended forecast
By late Wednesday and into Thursday, a weak and likely dry cold front passes through the state.
That brings most of the state back into the 70s Thursday. Then, as the cooler air continues to filter in, widespread highs in the 60s are possible Friday and Saturday before temepratures return to the 70s early next week.
The front will also bring drier air in and lower the humidity. Skies will stay mostly sunny through the end of the week. Between the 60s and 70s, sunshine and lower humidity, it should be fairly comfortable for outdoor activities.
A question about overnight winds
One of our Updraft readers was looking at the National Weather Service’s wind forecast and noticed the wind direction appears to completely shift in a full 360-degree rotation overnight Wednesday.
This isn’t a strange weather pattern, this is a capture of a weather graph trying to show “light and variable winds.”
Usually, wind direction is influenced by the overall weather pattern. However, when that prevailing pattern is weaker (thus, winds are usually lighter), local differences in the environment have more of an influence on the wind direction.
Changes in topography, slight temperature differences, etc., can all impact the wind direction. Even at a single location, these subtle influences can cause ongoing direction changes.
In the graph above the numbers show the wind speed in mph, which gets as low as 1 mph (likely calm at times). That is the perfect scenario to see the variable wind pattern described above!
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.