Another wintry storm Friday

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Did recent rains help our drought situation in Minnesota?

It shows that 72.67 percent Minnesota is now in drought. That’s down from 79.78 percent of Minnesota in last week’s report.

Most of the Twin Cities metro area is now in moderate drought (shaded beige). One week ago, most of the metro area was in severe drought.

Our shift to less severe drought categories may be temporary, since rain chances in Minnesota look really minimal over the next five days.

At 5 p.m. Thursday, air quality in parts of northwestern and north-central Minnesota was in the orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups) category. Air quality was mainly in the moderate category elsewhere in Minnesota.

Northwesterly winds are expected to spread Canadian wildfire smoke deeper into Minnesota Thursday evening into Friday.

 has posted an air quality alert (shaded orange) that continues until 11 p.m. Friday for much of Minnesota:

Here are details of the updated air quality alert, from MPCA:

Orange air quality: Unhealthy for sensitive groups

You can check hourly current air quality readings at the 

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has posted an air quality advisory for all of Wisconsin through this weekend. Air quality in Wisconsin is expected to reach the orange to red category. 

Dry weather is expected across Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Friday. Most of Saturday and Sunday will also be rain-free, with a stray shower possible in northwestern Minnesota late on Sunday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern from 7 a.m. Saturday to 10 p.m. Sunday:

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News 

MPR News display of National Weather Service radar

The Thursday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 76 degrees. That was five degrees cooler than the average Twin Cities high for this date.

Metro area highs will be in the lower 80s on Friday. Most of Minnesota will reach the 80s Friday afternoon, with some 70s in the northeast:

Saturday highs will reach the 90s in most areas, with 80s in north-central and northeastern Minnesota:

Sunday high temperatures will range from 70s in far northern Minnesota to lower 90s in the far south.

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 90 degrees on Sunday, followed by lower 90s Monday and Tuesday then mid 90s on Wednesday.

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.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Drought conditions have improved a bit in parts of Minnesota, but a dry stretch of weather is in the forecast. We also have updated info on air quality alerts in parts of Minnesota and all of Wisconsin.

Drought report shows progress; Update on air quality alerts and weekend heat

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