Nowcast: Showery and cooler; severe risk for southeast Minnesota

Cool front blows in pleasant air mass tomorrow

It’s time to trot out that old Minnesota weather mantra again.

If you don’t like the weather, just wait 15 minutes.

Tuesday brings an unsettled, showery weather pattern to southern Minnesota. A cool front pushing through is sparking scattered showers and a few thunderstorms. Expect on and off, hit and miss downpours through the afternoon hours.

NOAA’s HRRR model captures the essence through 10 p.m. Tuesday.

NOAA HRRR model between 2 pm and 10 pm Tuesday
NOAA HRRR model between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday.
NOAA via tropical tidbits

Severe risk for southeast Minnesota, Wisconsin

There is a slight severe weather risk for southeast Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa Tuesday. The setup is not as volatile as last week, but a few severe storms may pop ahead of the advancing frontal boundary.

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So what is the “slight risk” thing anyway? The La Crosse, Wis., National Weather Service has a good answer on what constitutes a lower-end severe weather threat.

Temperature bingo

Here’s a great example of how temperatures can vary wildly in the span of a few minutes or an hour on days like this. A little sun peeking through the prefrontal cloud deck boosted temps to 78 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport late Tuesday morning. As frontal showers move in, temps plunge into the low 70s, then bounce back between shower episodes.

Temperatures Tuesday at MSP Airport
Observed temperatures Tuesday at MSP Airport
FAA/NOAA

Beautiful Wednesday and Thursday

Our inbound air mass delivers some of the best summer has to offer. We’ll enjoy highs in the lower 80s with dew points in the comfortable 50s Wednesday and Thursday.

Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
NOAA

Enjoy it. Heat and humidity return Friday.