Wintry mix Thursday night, another storm Friday

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Our next cold front will spark some potentially severe storms Wednesday and drive another smoke wave into Minnesota Thursday. 

 lays out a slight risk (level 2 of 5) for most of central and eastern Minnesota through Wednesday evening (map above).

Storms will develop across northern Minnesota through Wednesday afternoon. Most of the short-range forecast models suggest storms will be slower to develop across the Twin Cities area, and some show storms waiting to develop until after the front passes the Twin Cities around 8 to 9 p.m. Wednesday evening. So we could see storms develop near the Twin Cities, or just southeast of the Twin Cities depending on timing.

NOAA’s NAM 3 km model is typical of most forecast models that show a line of storms across northeast Minnesota this afternoon, with storms firing on the southeast edge of the Twin Cities around 8 to 9 p.m. Wednesday evening. The forecast model loop below runs between 4 and 10 p.m. Wednesday. 

Here’s the convective outlook discussion for our region from NOAA.

The next Canadian wildfire smoke wave is thick across Manitoba Wednesday. Air quality readings around Lake Winnipeg are over 300 Wednesday. 

NOAA’s RAP model drives a thick plume of near-surface smoke across most of Minnesota Thursday. Here’s the forecast image for 7 p.m. Thursday. 

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency suggests Thursday’s smoke outbreak could be as bad as the worst smoke outbreaks in 2021.

Expect unhealthy air quality as the smoke expands across Minnesota Thursday. 

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

A cold front will spark storms and drive wildfire smoke into Minnesota. 

Severe storm risk Wednesday; significant smoke event possible Thursday

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