Much warmer, humid; strong storms NW Minnesota this evening

We have some areas of showers and thunderstorms this morning in northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, and a few stray showers in west-central Minnesota.

That rain will move out of many areas by afternoon, then we wait for the next batch of showers and thunderstorms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Sunday afternoon through the overnight hours of Sunday night:

Some strong to severe thunderstorms are possible in northwestern Minnesota later today and tonight. The NWS Storm Prediction Center shows an enhanced risk of severe weather in northwestern Minnesota and part of west-central Minnesota Sunday and Sunday night:

Enhanced risk means that numerous severe storms are possible:

The severe risk ramps up after about 4 p.m. in northwestern Minnesota. Here’s the NWS discussion:

Warm and humid

Meteorological summer began June 1 and astronomical summer begins on June 20. Our weather will definitely have a summery vibe on Sunday.

Sunday highs reach the 90s in southwestern and west-central Minnesota, with a lot of 80s elsewhere:

Highs in the upper 80s are expected in the Twin Cities metro area Sunday afternoon. North-central Minnesota will see some 70s, with 60s in much of northeastern Minnesota.

Western, central and southern Minnesota will have dew points in the sticky 60s Sunday afternoon:

Wind gusts of 25 to 35 mph are possible in Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin Sunday afternoon:

Plotted values are in knots, with 23 knots equal to 26 mph.

Updraft will be updated by 10 a.m. with details about the coming week.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.