Record heat expected Friday and Saturday, with 90s and possibly 100s
Minnesota stays mostly dry, increasing the fire risk
Minnesota turns even hotter the final days of the week, with widespread 90s and even isolated 100s possible. This could bring everything from an elevated fire risk to concerns about heat illness, while setting records across the state.
Thursday forecast
As daytime temperatures have risen recently, morning lows also continue to trend warmer, and Minnesota started mild with 50s and 60s Thursday morning.
Highs will also run about 10 to 20 degrees above average, with most of the state in the 80s, but western Minnesota is likely to start seeing some 90s.
Much of Minnesota is seeing mostly clear and predominantly sunny skies Thursday morning. The big exception to that is in northern Minnesota, where a weather disturbance is bringing scattered showers.
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That area of wet weather tracks southeast during the day, bringing the eastern edge of the state a few showers and isolated storms into the afternoon and evening before clearing out late Thursday. This precipitation will most likely miss the Twin Cities, but if a sprinkle does make it toward the metro area, it would be most probable in the early evening.
Record heat expected
Temperatures shoot even higher Friday, with most of the state in the 90s through the weekend. Western Minnesota could see a couple of spots hit 100.
Overnight lows also continue warm, with much of the state seeing lows in the 60s Friday morning, then overnight lows in the 60s north and 70s south over the weekend.
This weather is so hot for early June, we can expect numerous record high temperatures to be set around the state. For the Twin Cities, the record highs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are respectively 96, 92, and 97, so Saturday is the mostly likely day to set a record.
Morning lows will also be warm enough for parts of Minnesota to set record high minimums, which is when the low temperature of the day sets a record for being so warm.
The humidity goes up slightly over the weekend, which may lead to heat advisories when combined with the already hot temperatures. On Friday however, the combination of heat and afternoon relative humidity that will drop below 30 percent for most of the state leads to an increased fire risk.
Most of western and northern Minnesota is already under a fire weather watch for Friday, and that area could be expanded or parts of it upgraded to a red flag warning as conditions dictate.
Meanwhile, rain prospects to help ease the dry conditions stay limited through the weekend.
There may be a couple very isolated showers or storms late Friday into early Saturday, especially in northern Minnesota, then a statewide possibility by late Saturday into Sunday. Next week does look a little more active, but in the interim, mostly sunny skies dominate our weather through the weekend.
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.