Update on Saturday night & Sunday rain potential; a cooler week ahead
Heavy rain possible in southern Minnesota
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Saturday afternoon was rain-free in much of Minnesota, but portions of west-central and southwestern Minnesota saw showers and thunderstorms.
Those same areas have the best chance of showers and thunderstorms Saturday evening, with an isolated shower or thunderstorm possible elsewhere in Minnesota.
Tornado watch southwest Minnesota Saturday evening
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a tornado watch that includes three counties in southwestern Minnesota until 10 p.m. this Saturday:
A tornado watch means that tornadoes, large hail and damaging thunderstorm winds are all possible in and close to the watch area. The Storm Prediction Center may modify the watch or issue additional severe weather watches Saturday evening and overnight.
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Portions of southwestern and south-central Minnesota could also see heavy rain at times Saturday evening into Sunday.
Updates
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.
You can check these National Weather Service sites for updated weather info: Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Grand Forks, N.D.
Potential weekend rain totals
The rain coverage will expand eastward later Saturday night and on Sunday. Much of the southern half of Minnesota is expected to see periods of rain on Sunday, with some embedded thunderstorms.
A few spotty showers and an isolated thunderstorm are possible elsewhere in Minnesota and in parts of western Wisconsin on Sunday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model shows the potential rainfall pattern from 7 a.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. Sunday:
The HRRR model shows rainfall totals of two-inches or higher (purple shades) across portions of southwestern and south-central Minnesota between 1 p.m. Saturday and 10 p.m. Sunday:
NOAA’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) model keeps the highest weekend rainfall totals confined to mainly southwestern Minnesota, with minimal rain totals in southeastern Minnesota:
Based on several forecast models, it looks like the Twin Cities metro area could see between one-quarter of an inch to three-quarters of an inch of rain this Sunday. Check forecast updates.
Temperature trends
The Saturday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 84 degrees. Thats a couple of degrees warmer than the average Aug. 5 high temp in the Twin Cities.
Sunday highs will retreat to the 70s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:
Some spots in southwestern Minnesota could see Sunday highs in the 60s.
Monday high temps will be in the 70s across most of northern Minnesota, with some spots in central and southern Minnesota reaching 80 degrees or the lower 80s:
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 80s on Monday and Tuesday, followed by around 80 Wednesday then upper 70s Thursday and around 80 on Friday.
Drought reminder
Many of us really need the weekend rain that’s in the forecast.
The U.S. Drought Monitor report released Thursday showed 79.71 percent of Minnesota in drought, with 2.89 percent (shaded red) in extreme drought and 30.73 percent (shaded orange) in severe drought:
The beige-shaded areas were in moderate drought and the yellow-shaded areas were abnormally dry but not in drought, as of the Tuesday rainfall cutoff date for the analysis.
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.
