Rain chances highest south on Sunday; Wednesday soaker?
Fall color update for leaf-peepers
Many parts of Minnesota are still in drought, so we’re looking for rain opportunities.
Portions of west-central Minnesota have seen scattered showers Sunday morning, and some of those showers will linger into afternoon. Patchy drizzle is possible in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.
The main rain event is developing to our south. A low pressure system will move through northern Missouri, spinning moisture northward. The steadiest rains in the afternoon and evening will be in Iowa, northern Illinois and parts of southern Wisconsin. Portions of Missouri and Illinois could see severe thunderstorms.
Far southern Minnesota will have some periods of rain showers Sunday afternoon and evening, especially along and south of Interstate 90. Scattered showers could spread a bit north of I-90 later in the day. Most of the Twin Cities metro area is expected to have a dry Sunday, but an isolated shower could clip the far south metro in the late afternoon.
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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.
Wednesday soaker?
Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have periods of rain Wednesday and Wednesday night. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model model shows the potential rain pattern from Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon:
Temperature trends
Sunday highs will be mainly in the 40s, with lower 50s from southeastern Minnesota into parts of western Wisconsin. The Twin Cities could touch 50.
Monday highs will be in the 40s north with some lower 50s south:
Monday afternoon wind gusts of 15-22 miles per hour are expected in northern Minnesota, with lighter winds to the south:
Plotted wind forecasts are in knots, with 15 knots equal to 17.3 mph.
Back to forecast highs, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 50s Tuesday, followed by lower 50s Wednesday. Highs in the mid 50s are forecast for Thursday and Friday.
Fall colors
The latest fall color report from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shows colors past peak in the dark-red shaded areas of Minnesota:
The percentage of changeover to fall colors is between 75 percent and 100 percent in the medium-red shaded areas, including much of the Twin Cities metro area and portions of southeastern Minnesota.
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.
Weather nugget
The Twin Cities record high for today is 80 degrees, set in 1989. A record high was also set the next day, with 82 degrees. I checked, and Oct. 24 was on a Tuesday and Oct. 25 was on a Wednesday in 1989. It’s too bad that the summery warmth didn’t happen on a weekend!
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.