Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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My former partner in weather crime Craig Edwards said it well. Established weather patterns tend to persist. It often takes a major change in the hemispheric upper airwave pattern to break out of drought or a wet pattern. 

There are some signs we could see a moderate shift in the weather pattern across the Upper Midwest as we head into next week. That will bring much cooler air and may bring us multiple opportunities for rain next week.

Spotty thundershowers cross Minnesota again Friday evening. Saturday brings another beautiful (but dry) summer day with highs in the 70s north and 80s south.

By Sunday, a wetter low-pressure system crosses Minnesota. Rain and thunder coverage looks more widespread. NOAA’s GFS model is typical of those painting widespread rain and thunderstorms moving eastward across Minnesota Sunday. 

Sunday’s rains do not appear sufficient to ease the deepening drought in most of Minnesota. Most forecast models suggest 0.5 to 1 inch of rain for many locations. Some lucky spots could see more than an inch.

As always with summer convective rains, your results may vary. 

The upper air maps for Monday show a break in the trend that will bring much cooler temperatures to Minnesota early next week. See the dip across the Upper Midwest? That will pull some free AC down from Canada.

Monday may be a bit of a shock to the system with highs in the 50s and 60s across Minnesota. 

Some forecast models hint at additional rain chances next week.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Spotty thunderstorms Friday evening. More widespread rainfall likely Sunday.

NOAA

NOAA via tropical tidbits

European model (ECMWF) precipitation output

Searching for rain: More widespread rainfall likely Sunday

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