Cooler but still well above normal this week

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A cold front is sweeping through Minnesota Thursday, bringing falling temperatures and setting up a much chillier end to the workweek. 

The chill won’t last long but the weekend warmup may bring an increased risk of fire weather.

Brief cooldown, then weekend warmup and fire risk

Wednesday’s highs reached the 60s, 70s and near 80 degrees across central and southern Minnesota. The cold front shifting south Thursday is bringing much cooler air.

While Friday’s temperatures will be only slightly below average, the drop will feel dramatic compared with Wednesday’s highs.

Friday highs will struggle to climb out of the 20s in northern Minnesota and the 30s in the south due to that much colder air mass. 

The colder weather won’t last long as a weekend warmup brings highs in the 50s on Saturday and the 60s to 70s on Sunday.

Warm, dry conditions bring elevated fire risk particularly across western and southwestern Minnesota, where relative humidity may drop to around 20 percent.

South-southwest winds are expected to increase to 25-35 mph, creating conditions that could prompt the first fire weather headlines of the season.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Mandy Thalhuber

Author

A cold front is sweeping through Minnesota Thursday, bringing falling temperatures and setting up a much chillier end to the work week. The chill won’t last long, but the weekend warmup may come with an increased risk for fire weather conditions.

National Weather Service

NOAA via Weather Prediction Center

Relative humidity percentages Saturday 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

NOAA via College of DuPage Weather

Wind speed and direction Saturday 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Cold front brings chilly end to the workweek; weekend warmup ahead

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