A Sunday rain chance; unsettled weather to start the week

Temps warm up for the Fourth

It actually rained on Saturday! Rain has been rare this June.

Some spots had downpours, while other spots saw lighter rain.

Raindrops on a traffic camera lens
Raindrops dot the lens of a MnDOT traffic camera along U.S. Highway 52 near Cannon Falls, Minn., on Saturday, June 26, 2021. Much of southern Minnesota saw much-needed rainfall.
Minnesota Department of Transportation

Some of the heaviest rain was from around Mankato over toward Faribault, Minnesota. The rainfall coverage was pretty good in the southern half of Minnesota and in western Wisconsin. Parts of northern Minnesota saw spotty showers. Rain will linger into Saturday evening in many locations.

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

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Sunday rain chances?

A few occasional scattered showers and a thunderstorm will be possible on Sunday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern for Sunday and Sunday evening:

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Simulated radar Sunday and Sunday evening
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Pay more attention to the scattered nature of the rain, rather than the exact location of the rain at any given time.

We’ll have a chance of additional scattered showers and a thunderstorm on Monday and Tuesday, as well as late on Wednesday.

Temperature trends

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 82 degrees this time of year. Some spots in the metro area could top 80 degrees Sunday afternoon. Minnesota and western Wisconsin highs will be in the 70s to lower 80s on Sunday:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Sunday dew points will be in the sticky 60s in some areas:

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

Back to high temperatures, Twin Cities metro area high temps are projected to reach the mid 80s on Monday, followed by lower 80s Tuesday and mid 80s on Wednesday. We’ll top out around 80 on Thursday and Friday.

Temperatures may tick a bit upward for the Fourth of July and the following week. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for above-normal temps in Minnesota and western Wisconsin from July 4 through July 10:

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Temperature outlook July 4 through July 10
NWS Climate Prediction Center

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.