Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Periods of rain and thunder Saturday and Saturday night

Updated severe weather outlook

Many of us awoke to the sound of thunder this morning. That’s been rare in this summer of drought. Parts of southwestern Minnesota saw their rain and thunder overnight.

Additional periods of showers and thunderstorms are expected today in much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid-Refresh (HRRR) forecast model shows the potential rainfall pattern from 6 a.m. Saturday to 11 p.m. Saturday:

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Simulated radar 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

We’ll have some dry hours between the periods of rain and thunder. It’ll probably rain in some locations that look dry in the HRRR loop, but the loop illustrates the overall rainfall pattern that’s expected.

Severe weather potential

The NWS Storm Prediction Center shows a slight risk of severe weather Saturday and Saturday night in portions of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The slight risk area is shaded yellow in this severe weather discussion from the Twin Cities office of the NWS:

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Severe weather outlook Saturday and Saturday night
NWS Storm Prediction Center/Twin Cities NWS

Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible. An isolated severe thunderstorm is possible in the area that’s shaded dark-green. The severe weather outlook is updated several times each day by the Storm Prediction Center.

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.

Weekend temps and dew points

Our average Twin Cities high temp is 82 degrees on Aug. 7. Many spots in the Twin Cities metro area will probably top out around 80 this afternoon. Highs in the 80s are expected in much of western Minnesota, with mainly 70s elsewhere:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Highs in the 60s are expected in some spots near Lake Superior.

Saturday dew points will be in the sticky 60s in most areas, with steamy 70s in parts of southern Minnesota:

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

This Updraft blog will be updated around 10:20 a.m. with a look at the Sunday forecast and a peek at the week ahead.

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.