Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Pleasant weather Saturday, then t-storms in some areas Saturday night

Severe weather possible overnight

Temperatures will be pleasant in most areas Saturday afternoon.

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 76 degrees on Sept. 5. The metro area is expected to reach the upper 70s. Highs will be well into the 70s in most areas this Saturday and there will be some lower 80s in south-central and southwestern Minnesota. Parts of northeastern Minnesota will top out in the upper 60s:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Saturday dew points will be mainly in the comfortable upper 40s to lower 50s:

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Saturday 1 p.m. forecast dew points
National Weather Service

Rain and thunder chances tonight

A stray shower is possible in northern Minnesota this Saturday evening, with scattered showers Saturday night. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop in parts of west-central and southwestern Minnesota after sunset this evening, then expand to the east and southeast during the overnight hours of Saturday night.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon:

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

A few scattered showers and thunderstorms may linger in parts of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin early Sunday mornig.

Some of the thunderstorms late Saturday evening and overnight Saturday night could be severe. The NWS Storm Prediction Center shows a slight risk (shaded yellow) of severe weather for that period in parts of the southern half of Minnesota, including the southwest portion of the Twin Cities metro area. Here’s the Twin Cities NWS depiction of the severe risk area:

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Severe weather outlook Saturday night
National Weather Service

Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible. The dark-green shaded area (which includes Minneapolis and St. Paul) indicates a marginal risk of severe weather Saturday night. An isolated severe thunderstorm is possible in the marginal risk area.

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

This Updraft blog will be updated by around 10 a.m., with details on the rest of this Labor Day weekend and a look at the chilly temps that are on tap this 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.