Unsettled weekend weather; coolest temps on Sunday
Some spots could see heavy rain at times
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The Friday afternoon high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 90 degrees. It was the 23rd day this year with an official Twin Cities high of 90 degrees or warmer. On average, the Twin Cities metro area sees 13 days per year with a high of 90 or warmer.
Temperature trends
The average Twin Cities high temperature is 82 degrees on Aug. 5. Metro area highs are forecast to be in the mid 80s this Saturday.
Much of northern Minnesota will see highs in the 70s Saturday afternoon, with mainly 80s elsewhere:
Sunday highs will be in the 70s in most locations:
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Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 80 degrees on Monday, followed by lower 80s Tuesday then upper 70s on Wednesday and Thursday and back to 80 on Friday.
Rain opportunities
Almost 80 percent of Minnesota is still in drought, so rain is needed.
The best chance of showers and thunderstorms Friday evening will be in far southern Minnesota, but an isolated shower or thunderstorm could pop up elsewhere.
The best chance of showers and thunderstorms on Saturday will be in the western half of Minnesota, but eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin could see a few scattered showers and thunderstorms at times.
Rain could be heavy rain at times Saturday and Saturday evening in southwestern and west-central Minnesota.
Far southwestern Minnesota (shaded yellow) could see some scattered severe thunderstorms too, based on the latest Saturday/Saturday night outlook from the NWS Storm Prediction Center:
The dark-green shaded area could see an isolated severe thunderstorm Saturday and Saturday night.
On Sunday, the best chance of rain and a few embedded thunderstorms is expected to be in eastern Minnesota and into Wisconsin, with a chance of scattered showers and an isolated thunderstorm in western Minnesota.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. Also check out the MPR News display of National Weather Service radar.
How much rain?
Forecast models vary widely on the extent of the heaviest rain this weekend.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s FV3 forecast model shows weekend rainfall totals of two-inches or higher (purple shades) across most of the southern third of Minnesota and in parts of west-central and northeastern Minnesota:
NOAA’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows a much smaller portion of Minnesota with two-inch and higher weekend rainfall totals:
We’ll have updates on Saturday.
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.
