Weekend forecast: Mildest temps on Sunday; dry in most areas, rain chances in the northeast

Gusty winds for some locations

After several days of clouds and periods of rain, we’re ready for some sunshine.

The western third of Minnesota will have quite a bit of sunshine this Saturday, with lingering clouds elsewhere in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Breaks in the clouds will spread eastward on Sunday, but pesky clouds will remain over northeastern Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin. Here’s how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model depicts our Sunday cloud cover:

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Simulated cloud cover for Sunday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

We may end up with a mix of sun and patchy clouds in the Twin Cities metro area this Sunday.

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Rain chances

Periods of rain will linger Friday night in many areas, then lift off to the northeast and end during Saturday morning. Here’s the NAM forecast model’s precipitation depiction for Friday evening through Saturday morning:

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Simulated radar Friday evening through Saturday morning
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Some wet flakes may mix with the rain in far northern Minnesota late Friday night into early Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon and Saturday night look dry in most areas. By Sunday afternoon, rain rotates back into northeastern Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin:

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Simulated radar for Sunday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

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

Weekend temps and winds

Our average April 10 high temp in the Twin Cities is 55 degrees. The metro area will top out in the mid-50s this Saturday. Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have Saturday highs in the 50s, with 40s in north-central and northeastern Minnesota:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Saturday will be a bit breezy in northern and western Minnesota, with gusts in the 16-22 mph range:

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Saturday 1 p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Plotted gusts are in knots, with 16 knots equal to 18.4 mph.

Back to temperatures, Sunday highs will be in the 60s south, with 50s in most of northern and central Minnesota:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

The metro area will probably top out in the lower 60s Sunday afternoon.

Sunday wind gusts of 16-22 mph are expected in southeastern Minnesota, western Wisconsin and parts of northeastern Minnesota:

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Sunday 1 p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.