Thursday afternoon/evening t-storm chance; pleasant Friday

A cool front is moving slowly through Minnesota this Thursday afternoon and evening. Scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop along and ahead of the front, especially during the late afternoon and early evening hours.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center showers a slight chance (shaded yellow) of severe weather this Thursday afternoon and evening over southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa and much of Wisconsin.

Slight chance means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible:

An isolated severe thunderstorm is possible in the dark-green shaded area, which includes the Twin Cities metro area, south central Minnesota and portions of west central and northwestern Wisconsin.

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4 p.m. Update

The NWS Storm Prediction center has issued a severe thunderstorm watch valid until 11 p.m. for portions of northern Wisconsin and parts of Michigan:

Here are the watch details:

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 416 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 350 PM CDT Thu Jun 30 2022 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of Upper Michigan Northern Wisconsin Lake Michigan Lake Superior * Effective this Thursday afternoon and evening from 350 PM until 1000 PM CDT. * Primary threats include... Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2 inches in diameter possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...Thunderstorms will develop along the south shore of Lake Superior and track eastward across the watch area this afternoon and early evening. The strongest cells will pose a risk of damaging wind gusts and large hail. The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 60 statute miles north and south of a line from 40 miles south of Kennedy WI to 95 miles east of Marquette MI. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce tornadoes. && AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 2 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 27035.

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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.

Holiday weekend weather

A lot of people will probably start their July Fourth holiday weekend on Friday.

Friday highs will be in the 70s to the north, with 80s south.

Friday afternoon dew points will be comfortable; in the upper 40s to lower 50s.

Back to forecast high temps, 80s are expected Saturday in central and southern Minnesota, with 70s north.

There will be a lot of highs in the 70s on Sunday, with some spots in the Twin Cities metro topping 80.

High temps on the Fourth of July will reach the 80s in southern and central Minnesota, with mainly 70s in the north.

There will be some 60s up along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Thunderstorm chances?

Friday looks dry, then occasional scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There will be many dry hours at every location too.

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.