Pleasant weather through Labor Day; Temps ramp up by midweek
Northern lights pics from Saturday night
I’m liking our thunder-free weekend weather.
It was a chilly start today, but temperatures will recover nicely this afternoon. The official Sunday low temp at MSP airport was 52 degrees. Many metro area locations dipped into the upper 40s. Lows in the 40s were fairly common across Minnesota and western Wisconsin, but a few spots in north-central and northeastern Minnesota dropped into the 30s.
Sunday highs will be mainly in the 70s, with a few 60s in parts of northeastern Minnesota. We’ll enjoy plenty of sunshine this afternoon, as a high pressure system remains in place from near James Bay, Canada back through Wisconsin and Minnesota. Sunday afternoon dew points will be in the comfortable 40s and lower 50s.
No rain in sight
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We should be rain-free through Labor Day. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model isn’t depicting any rain in Minnesota or western Wisconsin from noon today through Monday evening:
Temperature trends
Labor Day highs will be mainly in the 70s, but a few spots in far western Minnesota could top out in the lower 80s:
Dew points creep upward by Monday afternoon, reaching the upper 50s to around 60 in central and southern Minnesota:
Back to forecast highs, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 80s on Tuesday, followed by mid 80s Wednesday, upper 80s Thursday and mid 80s Friday.
We’ll probably see metro area highs in the 70s next Saturday and Sunday, then above-normal temps could return the following week. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for above-normal temps in Minnesota and Wisconsin for the period from September 11 through September 17:
Northern lights Saturday night
Northern lights were visible at times Saturday night/early Sunday. Here are a few images from Minnesota:
Northern lights may also be visible Sunday night/early Monday, especially in northern Minnesota. We’ll have an update on that later today.
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.