Thunderstorm chance Sunday night; periods of showers & t-storms on Monday

Much cooler to start the week

The Sunday afternoon high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 90 degrees. That’s a lot warmer than our Twin Cities average Sept. 19 high of 72 degrees. If Sunday was too steamy for you, you’ll be happy to know that a cold front is headed our way.

Temperature trends

Monday highs will be in the 60s in western Minnesota, with 70s in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

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Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Parts of eastern Minnesota could see falling temps by Monday afternoon. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the mid 60s Tuesday, then around 70 on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by upper 60s Friday.

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Looking ahead to next weekend and the start of the following week, our temps may be a bit above normal. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a slight tendency for above-normal temps in Minnesota and western Wisconsin from Sept. 25 through Sept. 29.:

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Temperature outlook Sept. 25 through Sept. 29
NWS Climate Prediction Center

Thunderstorm chances

Scattered thunderstorms developed in northwestern and north-central Minnesota late Sunday afternoon. Additional thunderstorms are expected Sunday evening and Sunday night in those same areas, as well as in parts of northeastern Minnesota and west-central Minnesota. Thunderstorms will also develop overnight Sunday night in the remainder of western Minnesota, then spread eastward.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center shows a marginal risk of severe weather Sunday evening and overnight Sunday night in the dark-green shaded area that covers roughly the northwestern half of Minnesota:

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Severe weather outlook Sunday afternoon through Sunday night
NWS Storm Prediction Center

Marginal risk means that an isolated severe thunderstorm is possible.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center will will update the severe weather outlook Sunday night and Monday morning.

From 7 a.m. Monday through Monday night, the marginal risk area shifts to eastern Minnesota and Wisconsin:

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Severe weather outlook Monday and Monday night
NWS Storm Prediction Center

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

Fall colors

Parts of Minnesota are already showing some vivid fall colors. Here’s the Sunday fall color report from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:

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Sunday fall color report
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

The areas that are shaded yellow are showing the most changeover to fall colors at this point. Keep in mind that all deciduous trees are included in the fall color report, not just maples.

Most of the 25-50 percent fall color coverage is in northern Minnesota, but there is an area of significant fall color from south-central Sibley County through parts of Nicollet, Brown and Watonwan counties.

It’ll be interesting to watch how our fall colors spread across Minnesota over next two to three weeks! Wisconsin fall color info can be found here.

Weather nugget

With Sunday’s high of 90 at MSP airport, our official Twin Cities high temp has now hit 90 degrees or warmer on 27 days this year. We average just 13 days per year with highs of 90 or warmer in the Twin Cities.