Lovely Saturday; showers and thunderstorms north later Sunday

Saturday has been a lovely day across Minnesota and western Wisconsin and will continue that way through the evening. Afternoon temperatures warmed to comfortable 70s over much of the state. Some southern spots edged into the low 80s. Cooler northeastern sections stayed in the 60s. A few showers have bubbled up at times near the North Shore.

Showers Saturday night

Another atmospheric ripple will kick off an increase in showers in northwestern Minnesota by late Saturday evening. Showers will grow and spread eastward across northern Minnesota during the night.

Warmer Sunday with scattered showers north late

Temperature will climb several degrees for Sunday. Afternoon highs are likely to be from the upper 70s to the mid 80s. The Twin Cities should warm to about 86 with a southwest breeze increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon.

Showers and scattered thunderstorms could build across northern Minnesota Sunday afternoon and evening. A marginal (level 1 of 5) risk of isolated severe weather has been posted for parts of northern Minnesota beginning Sunday afternoon.

Monday cooler north but hot south

A cold front will begin dropping southward out of Canada on Monday. Cooler air behind it will limit high temperatures in far northern Minnesota to the 60s that afternoon. Southern Minnesota will remain in the summery air and continue to heat up, however, as high temperatures are likely to reach the low 90s in that part of the state. The Twin Cities should flirt with 90.

Chance of thunderstorms central and south

The advancing cold front will nudge the chances of showers and thunderstorms southward into central and southern Minnesota on Monday. A marginal risk for severe weather has been issued for the southern half of Minnesota and most of Wisconsin for Monday and Monday night. The greater risk of severe weather will be across a huge slight (level 2) risk area from southeastern South Dakota south across a wide swath of the Plains to northern Texas.

Sharply cooler Tuesday, then warming gradually

Temperatures will be cooler but still quite comfortable on Tuesday and Wednesday. Highs should be from the upper 60 to mostly 70s and a few readings touching 80, mainly on Wednesday.

Temperatures will warm slowly back to about seasonal normals as we approach next weekend.

Skimpy prospects of rain

After the thunderstorm chances for Monday, just about every day in the week has a chance of isolated stray showers. But most days will be dry with little in the way of organized convection likely.

One weather system might cross southern Minnesota on Thursday and Thursday night with enough rain to make a puddles. The 7-day precipitation forecast through 7 p.m. next Saturday indicates that those southernmost counties might be the only part of Minnesota to pick up maybe an inch of rain if the system doesn’t sag farther south. The drought continues.