Weekend weather: Mild temps; fall color update for leaf-peepers
No morning frost
The second half of September and the first three weeks of October are my favorite time of the year. Temperatures and dew points retreat a bit during this time and we see the progression from the green leaves of summer to beautiful fall colors.
Fall color update
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fall color report for Minnesota State Parks and Trails looks like this:
When you look at fall color maps, keep in mind that all deciduous trees are included. The maples can be peaking when the overall changeover to fall color is less than 50 percent in a given area.
I saw great fall colors in Minnesota’s Arrowhead region last week along the Sawtooth Mountains inland from Lutsen and Tofte.
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A Wisconsin fall color report can be found here.
Weekend temps
October begins on Saturday. Most of northern Minnesota, southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have Saturday morning lows in the 40s, with mainly lower 50s elsewhere:
Our average Twin Cities high temp is 66 degrees on Oct. 1. Several spots in the metro area will top 70 degrees Saturday afternoon and some spots in southwestern Minnesota will reach the mid to upper 70s:
Much of northern Minnesota will have Saturday afternoon highs in the 60s, with some upper 50s in northeastern Minnesota.
Low temperatures late Saturday night into early Sunday morning will be in the 40s in many areas, with lower 50s in most of the Twin Cities metro and parts of western Minnesota:
Sunday highs will reach the 60s in many locations, with 70s in southwestern and west-central Minnesota:
Some spots in the Twin Cities metro area will touch 70 on Sunday, and areas near Lake Superior will have highs in the 50s.
Rain chances?
Forecast models show a chance of spotty, brief showers in portions of Minnesota and western Wisconsin Saturday and Saturday night. Parts of northern and central Minnesota could see spotty, brief showers at times on Sunday.
We have updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News network, and on the MPR News live weather blog.
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. Saturday and Sunday.