Significant rain through Thursday; Halloween looks cool, dry

Periods of heavy rain funnel across much of Minnesota Wednesday into Thursday. Another storm over the weekend will be far drier, but it does bring in much colder air.

Rain through Thursday

The same storm that brought gusty winds across Minnesota Tuesday is pushing a few showers and storms across the state Wednesday morning, especially in western Minnesota.

The precipitation will become more widespread and heavier through the day and evening on Wednesday as the wind pattern associated with the storm is poised to funnel significant moisture directly up through the central United States from the Gulf of Mexico and over Minnesota.

Because of this, Wednesday is going to stay breezy and turn very wet.

Winds start diminishing by Wednesday evening, but the rain continues Thursday, slowly clearing west to east through the day. For the Twin Cities, the morning will be wet, with diminishing rain chances Thursday afternoon.

Combining the forecast rainfall Wednesday and Thursday, almost all of the state will receive at least one-half inch of rain, with slightly less anticipated in the Arrowhead. Totals of more than 1 inch are forecast in most of central and southern Minnesota.

With a mild wind flow from the southeast and cloudy skies overnight, temperatures dropped little from Tuesday, with Wednesday morning temperatures across Minnesota mostly in the 40s.

However, the clouds and rain also keep temperatures from warming much during the day, so afternoon temperatures are likely to be in the 40s for north and central Minnesota, and low 50s south. 

The afternoon temperatures will not be the highs in some spots, because parts of the state already saw their warmest temperatures for the day at midnight.

Thursday will be similar, with morning lows dropping little, and the day starting in the 40s, and highs warming only slightly, into the upper 40s and low 50s.

Turning cooler

Skies clear quickly Friday, and under more sunshine, most of Minnesota can expect highs in the 50s Friday and Saturday.

The 50s will be short-lived though as a cold front Saturday drops the state back into the 40s Sunday. Here is that forecast for the Twin Cities:

For anyone heading out Halloween evening, it still looks like Sunday evening temperatures will be in the low 40s south and upper 30s north, with only the northern edge of Minnesota seeing possible showers.

Otherwise, Saturday’s cold front is not expected to bring significant precipitation, and wet weather chances next week look limited.

Any precipitation that does manage to develop in the week ahead could include a couple snowflakes. The colder weather Sunday drops a few more degrees Monday and then is forecast to persist all of next week, with highs mostly in the 30s north and low 40s south.

There may even be a couple days late-week where even southern Minnesota does not make it out of the 30s for highs, meaning November gets off to a chilly start! 

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.