Cooler Monday; Wednesday looks wet
Fall color update for leaf-peepers
The Sunday afternoon high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 71 degrees. That’s 10 degrees warmer than our average Oct. 10 high in the Twin Cities. Highs have been in the 70s for the first ten days of October in the Twin Cities, but that streak is about to end.
Rain and thunder northeastern Minnesota Sunday evening
Areas of rain will continue into Sunday evening in roughly the northern third of Minnesota and parts of northwestern Wisconsin. Thunderstorm chances are highest in northeastern Minnesota. A severe thunderstorm watch continues until 9 p.m. this Sunday from St. Louis County through Lake and Cook counties of northeastern Minnesota.
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.
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Monday rain to southeast and east
Southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin have the best chance of showers on Monday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid-Refresh (HRRR) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Monday and Monday evening:
The HRRR model showed a dry Monday in the Twin Cities metro area, but NOAA’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows some rain creeping into parts of the metro area late Monday afternoon into Monday evening:
Check forecast updates to see if the models agree on Monday rain chances.
Wednesday soaker?
NOAA’s NAM forecast model shows periods of rain on Wednesday:
There’ll probably be some thunderstorms embedded in that Wednesday rain at times.
Temperature trends
Monday highs will be in the 60s:
Monday dew points will be in the comfortable 40s and lower 50s:
Back to high temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 60s on Tuesday, followed by mid 60s Wednesday. Cooler temps move in to end the week, with highs in the lower 60s Thursday and upper 50s on Friday. Highs may be in the upper 50s again on Saturday, then rebound a bit on Sunday. It looks like milder temps could return the following week.
The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for above normal temperatures in Minnesota and western Wisconsin from Oct. 18 through Oct. 24:
Fall color report
The percentage of changeover to fall colors is highest in the northern half of Minnesota plus the northeastern part of the Twin Cities metro area right now. Here’s the latest fall color report from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:
The dark-red shaded areas are past peak. Keep in mind that all deciduous trees are included in the fall color report, not just maples.
Wisconsin fall color info can be found here.
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.