Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Scattered rain and possible thunder here; record heat in Seattle

A look at the coming week

The highest rainfall totals so far this weekend have been from southern Minnesota into central Wisconsin:

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Rainfall from 7 a.m. Saturday to 7.a.m. Sunday
National Weather Service

The red patches a few miles to the south of the Twin Cities metro area saw anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain. Those heaviest rain areas included portions of Rice County, Le Sueur County and northern Waseca County.

The official total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was just .14 of an inch. Chanhassen reported .55”. Rosemount (in Dakota County) came in with 1.42 inches. Here are a couple of western Wisconsin rainfall reports for the past 24 hours: 1.28” in Eau Claire, and 2.82 inches in La Crosse.

June is typically our rainiest month of the year in the Twin Cities, with an average of 4.58 inches of rain. MSP airport has tallied just 1.24 inches of rain at so far this June. 

Sunday rain chances

Portions of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin have seen some Sunday morning showers. Additional scattered showers and a thunderstorm will be possible in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday afternoon and evening, but we will all have several dry hours too.

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.

Monday rain?

We’ll have a chance of scattered showers and a thunderstorm on Monday too, especially Monday afternoon and Monday evening. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Monday and Monday evening:

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

Forecast models show scattered rain opportunities on Tuesday and also late Wednesday.

Temperature trends

Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have Sunday highs in the upper 70s to around 80. There will be some lower 70s in portions of northeastern Minnesota.

Monday highs will be mainly in the 80s, with some 70s in northeastern Minnesota:

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Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Monday dew points will be in the sticky 60s in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with 50s elsewhere:

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

Back to high temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 80s Tuesday, then mid 80s on Wednesday. We’ll have highs in lower 80s 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

Record heat in the Pacific Northwest

Washington and Oregon have sweltering heat right now. Seattle topped 100 degrees on Saturday:

Seattle could hit 104 this Sunday afternoon, with 100+ readings in many additional locations:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Excessive heat warnings continue today and tomorrow in Washington and Oregon and portions of adjacent states.

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.

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