Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Relief! Cool front blows in a more comfortable air mass

Dew points dropped 20 degrees into the 50s Wednesday

Dew points Wednesday afternoon
Dew points Wednesday afternoon.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Global Forecast System mode, via Tropical Tidbits.

Tuesday was day 15 of 90-degree heat in the Twin Cities and most of southern and western Minnesota. The mercury topped out at 95 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Tuesday afternoon.

Rainfall with our overnight storms was patchy again. Generally, one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch fell across southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities area. More than an inch fell across parts of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Rainfall totals
Rainfall totals
Twin Cities National Weather Service office

Fresh front

Summer cold fronts in Minnesota usually fall short of our notion of cold air. That’s why I like to call them cool fronts. But they do bring significant relief from extreme heat episodes like Tuesday.

Wednesday’s air mass is about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than Tuesday.

Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

And dew points are around 20 degrees lower. That’s why it feels so much more comfortable out there Wednesday.

See how the tropical dew points have been shoved to southern Wisconsin and Illinois?

Dew points Wednesday afternoon
Dew points Wednesday afternoon
NOAA Global Forecast System model, via Tropical Tidbits

Dew points will hover in the comfy 50s through Thursday around Minnesota.

Highs Thursday will be in the 80s south and 70s north once again.

Forecast high temperatures Thursday
Forecast high temperatures Thursday
NOAA

Friday brings another shot of heat to southern and western Minnesota, where the highs push past 90 again.

Forecast high temperatures Friday
Forecast high temperatures Friday
NOAA

The weekend brings a chance of scattered storms and highs mostly in the 80s.