Strong winds Sunday; temps really ramp up on Tuesday

You can expect whitecaps on many of our larger Minnesota lakes Sunday afternoon and evening.

Wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph are expected in many areas Sunday afternoon, and far western Minnesota could see gusts over 45 mph.

A wind advisory runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. in west central Minnesota and that advisory has been extended eastward to Stearns County and southward into south-central Minnesota:

There’s also a wind advisory from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. this Sunday for northwestern Minnesota counties bordering the Red River.

Here are details of the wind advisory that includes several counties just to the west and southwest of the Twin Cities metro area:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 922 AM CDT Sun Jun 14 2020 MNZ042-049-054-056>058-064>067-073>075-082-083-091-092-150200- /O.EXB.KMPX.WI.Y.0009.200614T1500Z-200615T0200Z/ Todd-Stearns-Lac Qui Parle-Chippewa-Kandiyohi-Meeker- Yellow Medicine-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Redwood-Brown-Nicollet- Watonwan-Blue Earth-Martin-Faribault- Including the cities of Long Prairie, St Cloud, Madison, Montevideo, Willmar, Litchfield, Granite Falls, Olivia, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Redwood Falls, New Ulm, St Peter, St James, Mankato, Fairmont, and Blue Earth 922 AM CDT Sun Jun 14 2020 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Southeast winds 30 to 35 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected. * WHERE...Portions of central, south central, southwest and west central Minnesota. * WHEN...Until 9 PM CDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.

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

Temperature trends

Our average Twin Cities high temperature on June 14 is 79 degrees. Metro area highs are expected to reach the upper 70s this Sunday afternoon. Highs in the 70s will be spread across much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, but southwestern and south-central Minnesota will reach the 80s. Some spots near Lake Superior may top out in the 60s.

Tuesday highs reach the 90s in southwestern Minnesota, with a mix of 80s and 70s elsewhere:

There’ll be a few 60s along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Monday dew points start to creep upward, with 60s to the west and many 50s elsewhere:

Monday afternoon wind gusts will be in the 25-35 mph range:

Plotted values are in knots, with 25 knots equal to about 29 mph.

Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 80s on Monday, followed by lower 90s Tuesday and mid 90s Wednesday. Highs retreat to the mid 80s on Thursday and lower 80s Friday.

A closer look at the summery heat on Tuesday and Wednesday

The American GFS model has been showing a cold bias on summery days, so I’m going to show the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model temps, which are in the 90s in much of the southern half of Minnesota at 1 p.m. Tuesday:

Our highs this time of year often occur around 4 or 5 p.m., so Tuesday highs will probably exceed those 1 p.m. temps by a few degrees. Southeastern Minnesota will see Tuesday highs in the 80s.

The European forecast model also shows many 90s in southern and central Minnesota at 1 p.m. on Wednesday:

It’ll be windy on Tuesday and Wednesday and dew points in the sticky 60s are expected in the hottest areas both days. It’ll feel very summery.

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.