Summer heat and some storms over the weekend
Lots of sun Friday; storm chances this weekend
Friday will be much warmer and brighter. Showers and storms are possible overnight into Saturday, and overnight Saturday into Sunday. Temperatures rise through the weekend.
Expect a hot Memorial Day for southern Minnesota with scattered storms possible late in the day, with a risk of severe storms.
Friday kicks off major weekend warmup
Skies cleared out early Thursday evening and that led to some fog early Friday. The fog was visible in the Minnesota river valley on satellite imagery Friday morning.
Friday will bring a warmer and brighter day with highs well into the 70s.
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An increase in temperature and humidity combined with a slow moving area of low pressure and nearly stationary frontal boundary moving out of the Dakotas will touch off occasional storms.
Here’s a day by day breakdown.
Friday night into Saturday
As warmer air and moisture stream into Minnesota storms will develop to the west and move across mainly central and northern Minnesota late Friday night into Saturday morning.
Highs Saturday will be well into the 70s and 80s south, cooler north where there will be morning showers and clouds.
Sunday
There could yet again be storms late Saturday night into early Sunday morning that make their way across Minnesota.
For much of the weekend, this activity will be developing closer to the low in the Dakotas and then fizzling as it moves east. That’s why we have mainly overnight-early morning chances for much of the weekend.
Late Sunday, however, that low and front moves a little more east and could touch off strong to severe storms in western and northern Minnesota.
That activity may not quite reach eastern Minnesota, but there is an enhanced risk (level 3 out of 5) of severe storms for late Sunday.
Memorial Day and beyond
By Memorial Day, that slow moving area of low pressure and cold front pushes a little more east. Ahead of it expect a hot day for southern Minnesota. Highs will be near 90 in the south and humid.
Scattered storms will again develop along that boundary late in the day after perhaps some early morning left over activity.
Once again, strong storms are possible Monday farther east in Minnesota.
Some showers and thunder are still possible Tuesday and temperatures will finally cool as the front clears us. Highs will be mainly in the 70s and 60s next week after Tuesday.