Spotty thunderstorms north tonight favor Twin Cities area Saturday afternoon

Rainfall coverage will be localized. Breezy and cooler Sunday.

We’re tracking a cold front dropping southward through Minnesota through Saturday.

As of this post late Friday, the front is crossing the Canadian border dropping southward. The front has sparked scattered thunderstorms this afternoon from Hallock through Roseau to Warroad, and Baudette to International Falls. The MPR interactive radar at 5:20 pm Friday is lighting up with lightning strikes late Friday afternoon from near Fargo and Bemidji to International Falls.

MPR weather interactive radar
MPR weather interactive radar at 5:20 pm Friday.
NOAA via MPR weather.

Expect scattered storms to gradually drift southward along the frontal zone into tonight.

Scattered storms Saturday

The front will drift southward through central Minnesota and the Twin Cities area Saturday. Scattered thunderstorms will fire along the frontal boundary favoring Saturday afternoon into the evening.

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NOAA’s FV3 model tracks the line of storms across northern Minnesota Friday evening, then watch as spotty storms redevelop in the heat of the day Saturday afternoon around the Twin Cities and especially south.

NOAA NAM 3 km model 2
NOAA NAM 3 km model between 6 pm Friday and 6 pm Saturday.
NOAA via tropical tidbits

Rainfall coverage will be spotty once again with this fairly weak cold front. If you get under a brief downpour you could pick up .25” to .50” of rainfall. There may even be some local rainfall totals over an inch under a couple of slow-moving cells. But many areas will see less than that, or miss the rain Saturday.

NOAA’s FV3 rainfall output shows the chaotic patchwork nature of likely rainfall through Saturday.

NOAA FV3 model
NOAA FV3 model precipitation output through Saturday.
NOAA via pivotal weather

Cooler breezes Sunday

Temperatures Saturday will hover in the 80s south of the frontal zone with 70s north. Highs will be in the chilly 60s near Lake Superior.

Forecast high temperatures Saturday
Forecast high temperatures Saturday.
NOAA

Northerly winds behind the cool front Saturday night and Sunday will feed noticeably cooler air into Minnesota.

Lows Saturday night into Sunday morning will feel comfortable and you may want to open those windows. Good sleeping weather as the old timers used to say.

Forecast low temperatures Sunday morning
Forecast low temperatures Sunday morning.
NOAA

Highs Sunday will hover in the low to mid-70s across much of Minnesota.

Forecast high temperatures Sunday
Forecast high temperatures Sunday.
NOAA

There may be some minor smoke near ground level with the frontal passage Saturday evening.