Red flag warning western, south-central Minn. until 7 p.m. Sat.; rain at times Sunday
Updated cloud forecast for Monday
We’ll have plenty of Saturday sunshine in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, but winds will ramp up as a low pressure system moves into Nebraska.
A wind advisory runs from Saturday afternoon into Saturday evening in west-central and southwestern Minnesota.
Most of western Minnesota and south-central Minnesota are in a red flag warning from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday due to strong winds and low relative humidity, which will create critical fire weather conditions:
Here are details of the red flag warning:
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URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 1013 AM CDT Sat Apr 6 2024 ...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS WESTERN MINNESOTA SATURDAY AFTERNOON... .Southeasterly winds will steadily increase through this afternoon, becoming sustained at 25-30 mph with gusts up to 40- 45 mph. Relative humidity will also drop to around 20-30 percent during this time frame, with a lack of precipitation over the past week also allowing for fuels to be dry. MNZ041-047-048-054>057-064-065-073-074-082-091-062315- /O.CON.KMPX.FW.W.0004.240406T1800Z-240407T0000Z/ Douglas-Stevens-Pope-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa-Kandiyohi- Yellow Medicine-Renville-Redwood-Brown-Watonwan-Martin- 1013 AM CDT Sat Apr 6 2024 ...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR WESTERN MINNESOTA... * AFFECTED AREA...West central, southwest, and portions of south central Minnesota. * WIND...Southeast from 25 to 30 mph, gusting 40 to 45 mph. * HUMIDITY...20 to 30 percent. * IMPACTS...Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.
Winds could gust as high as 50 mph in parts of southwestern Minnesota Saturday afternoon.
Saturday afternoon wind gusts will be high enough in the Twin Cities metro area plus portions of central and southeastern Minnesota to create an elevated fire weather risk. That is the reason for the special weather statement in those areas, where outdoor burning is also not recommended Saturday afternoon.
Red flag warnings also cover parts of northwestern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday:
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network.
Updated forecast information will be posted by the National Weather Service offices in the Twin Cities, Grand Forks, N.D. and Sioux Falls, S.D..
Sunday rain
The approaching low-pressure system will bring some periods of rain to southern and central Minnesota plus portions of Wisconsin late Saturday night into Sunday.
Parts of northern Minnesota could see scattered precipitation on Sunday. There might be a rain/snow mix in portions of central Minnesota and up toward Brainerd and Hinckley on Sunday, before it changes to all rain in those areas.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 3 p.m. Saturday to 11 p.m. Sunday:
An isolated thunderstorm is also possible Sunday afternoon and evening in southern Minnesota.
Temperature trends
Saturday highs will be mainly in the 50s, with some 60s in southwestern Minnesota and 40s near Lake Superior. Parts of the Twin cities metro area could touch 60 degrees. The average April 6 high temp is 52 degrees in the Twin Cities.
Sunday highs will be mainly in the 40s:
Portions of northwestern and north-central Minnesota will reach the 50s Sunday afternoon.
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the lower 50s on Monday, followed by mid 50s Tuesday then mid 60s Wednesday and lower 60s Thursday and Friday.
Eclipse weather
The partial solar eclipse on Monday is likely to be blocked by clouds over Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Here’s the timing of Monday’s partial eclipse over the Twin Cities:
The path of the total eclipse may be best viewed from southeastern Missouri into far southern Illinois plus Indiana and northeastern New York State into Maine:
The cloudiest areas in the forecast are depicted as shades of blue.
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.