Summery warmth continues on Sunday; warmest Sept. in Twin Cities records

We over-achieved in the temperature department Saturday afternoon.

The official Twin Cities high temperature (measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport), was 88 degrees on Saturday:

That breaks the previous Twin Cities Sept. 30 record high temp of 87 degrees, which was set in 1897.

Much of southern Minnesota had Saturday highs in the 80s, but some spots hit 90 degrees or warmer, including Worthington, Windom, St. James, Faribault, Waseca, Albert Lea and Austin.

Northern Minnesota had a mix of 70s and 60s.

Warmest September

Through Sept. 29, the average Twin Cities temperature for this month was 68.8 degrees. The average temp is the average of all the daily high temperatures and daily low temperatures. We were tied with the warmest September in Twin Cities weather records.

That record is now toast. Our low of 67 and high of 88 on Saturday will bring the average Twin Cities temperature to about 69 degrees for Sept. 2023. There were 5 days this September with highs of 90 degrees or warmer in the Twin Cities.

Temperature trends

Sunday highs will be in the 80s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Parts of southwestern and south-central Minnesota will reach the lower 90s. Some spots in the metro area will top out at around 88 degrees. The average Twin Cities high temp is just 66 degrees on Oct. 1. Northeastern Minnesota will have mainly 70s, with some 60s up along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Dew points will be in the sticky 60s in most locations on Sunday.

Monday high temperatures will be mainly in the 80s, with a few 70s in northeastern Minnesota:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 80s on Tuesday, followed by lower 70s Wednesday, mid 60s Thursday and around 60 degrees on Friday.

Rain chances

There were scattered showers and thunderstorms in parts of west-central and southwestern Minnesota early Saturday evening, Scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible in those same areas over the next few hours and a few showers and an isolated thunderstorm could spread into parts of central Minnesota later Saturday evening.

Parts of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin could see a shower or thunderstorm late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

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 also 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.

Fall colors are popping

Fall colors are popping in much of Minnesota. I saw pockets of brilliant fall color in parts of the Twin Cities metro area the past few days, but many metro area trees are still green or are just starting to reveal fall colors.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fall color report for Minnesota State Parks and Trails looks like this:

The changeover to fall colors is highest in the northern half of Minnesota, but parts of west-central and southwestern Minnesota are also seeing plenty of fall color.

When you look at the fall color map, keep in mind that all deciduous trees are included. Maples can sometimes be peaking in an area when the overall changeover to fall color is 50 percent or less.

The Wisconsin fall color report can be found here.

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.