Limited precipitation chances through the weekend
Cool highs in the 60s for parts of northern Minnesota Thursday
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Minnesota is getting back into another drier pattern with only spotty rain chances. Temperatures dip below average in northern Minnesota, while seasonable highs continue south.
Wednesday’s weather
A weak cold front that brought rain across northern Minnesota during the overnight, and even a thunderstorm with pea-sized hail across parts of the Twin Cities Wednesday morning, is now moving east.
As of 9 a.m., the only rain left with that disturbance is in the very top of the Arrowhead, and that will clear out by late morning, with most of the state seeing sunny skies in the afternoon.
Ahead of that front, dew points elevated again, with a couple dew points in southern Minnesota making it back into the low 70s after slightly drier air moved in with Tuesday’s cold front.
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When Wednesday’s front clears, dew points lower again. By the afternoon, most of the state will have dew points back down in the 50s and comfortable relative humidity levels in the 30 to 40 percent range.
Wednesday morning temperatures varied from 50s north to 70s south.
Highs will be in the upper 70s north to mid-80s south, which is seasonable for mid-August.
Another weak cold front slides across Minnesota overnight Wednesday, providing a few more spotty showers moving from northwestern Minnesota late Wednesday east to the Arrowhead by Thursday morning.
Extended forecast
While the weak frontal boundaries moving across Minnesota do not bring much precipitation, they do help keep the humidity lower.
Most of Minnesota will see dew point temperatures in the 40s, especially Thursday and Friday, which puts afternoon relative humidity levels down in the 30 percent range if not lower.
The slightly cooler air behind those fronts may drop highs for the northern edge of Minnesota into only the 60s Thursday, while southern Minnesota remains in the lower 80s.
This is cooler than the average highs for this time of year, which range from the mid-70s in northern Minnesota to lower 80s south (the Twin Cities average high is 82 for Aug. 11).
Almost all of Minnesota is back in the 70s Friday, with highs near 80 south. By the weekend, 80s return for most of the state, and that warmer weather is likely to persist much of next week.
Here is that forecast for the Twin Cities:
Meanwhile, rain chances remain sparse. A storm system may clip southern Minnesota on Saturday, but otherwise, the current forecast is for predominantly dry weather through the middle of next week.
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.
