Weekend weather: Warm temps; shower, thunderstorm chance late Sunday
Fall color update for leaf-peepers
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I hope you’re enjoying these mild temperatures. The chilly temps that we saw early in the week are now in the rear-view mirror and we’re looking at the stretch of warm days ahead.
Friday highs will be in the 60s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. There will be a few 50s in north-central and northeastern Minnesota. Most spots in the Twin Cities metro area will reach the upper 60s, which is well above our average Oct. 21 high of 55 degrees.
Weekend warmth and winds
A low-pressure system will develop over South Dakota this weekend and move very slowly northeastward. That system will bring gusty south-southeasterly winds and warm weekend temps to Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Saturday highs will range from around 80 degrees in southwestern Minnesota to the upper 50s in parts of northeastern Minnesota. Much of the southern half of Minnesota, plus western Wisconsin, will have highs in the 70s:
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Twin Cities metro area highs in the mid 70s on Saturday will be 20 degrees warmer than our average Oct. 22 high.
Saturday afternoon wind gusts will be mainly in the 15 to 22 mph range:
Forecast wind gusts are in knots, with 16 knots equal to 18.4 mph
Sunday high temps will be in the 70s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:
Far northern Minnesota will have Sunday highs in the 60s.
Sunday will be the windiest day of the weekend, with afternoon wind gusts of 24 to 32 mph in southern and central Minnesota and western Wisconsin:
Dew points will rise into the 50s on Sunday and could reach the upper 50s in some areas Sunday afternoon:
That’ll feel almost summery, as our dew point approaches 60.
Rain chances late Sunday
Parts of northwestern Minnesota could see a few scattered showers Friday evening and into early Saturday.
Scattered showers and an isolated thunderstorm are possible in western and far northern Minnesota Sunday afternoon. Areas of showers and a few embedded thunderstorms are expected to develop in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday evening and overnight Sunday night.
The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service shows a marginal risk of severe weather (shaded dark green) Sunday and Sunday night in the southern half of Minnesota plus part of west-central Wisconsin:
Marginal risk means that an isolated severe thunderstorm is possible. It’ll be mainly a Sunday evening, Sunday night timeline for potential thunderstorms and isolated severe weather.
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.
Fall color report
Many trees have dropped a lot of their leaves, but there are still pockets of good fall color in portions of southern and central Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fall color report for Minnesota State Parks and Trails looks like this:
The Wisconsin fall color report can be found here.
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.
