Minnesota's dry and getting drier in the coming weeks

We have a mostly hotter and drier forecast in the coming days, which will likely mean that drought expands even more by next week. For many, however, the forecast is a warm and beautiful opportunity to get outside.

Who’s with me? Thursday morning was the perfect chance to sit on the porch or sunroom and sip your coffee. Not too hold, not too cold.

The beautiful start was a little cooler up north, given the lingering impact of the Lake Superior lake breeze, which has even shown up on radar the last couple of days.

If you like cooler weather, head north toward Silver Bay or Grand Marais. While skies seemed a little hazy around Minneapolis and St. Paul on Thursday, there was really no ozone or smoke issues to speak of. That’s great news!

High temperatures, and temps going into this evening, are still above normal, but it’s not quite as hot as the last three days.

There’s also not really any rain to chat about. There could be a tiny storm cell near Sisseton, S.D., and its surrounding hills of far western Minnesota and far northeastern South Dakota.

We wake up to a mild feeling for Friday but the thermometer takes off and heads toward the upper 80s.

Isolated spotty rain and mist could roll into far southern Minn. on Saturday but the chances look relatively small the farther north you go.

Much of early next week looks to stay dry. The longer range weather maps still hint at some thunderstorms later next Wednesday into Thursday. Temperatures stay above seasonal norms going through the last week of June.

Drought conditions in Minnesota did not vastly expand from last week, according to data released Thursday by the National Drought Mitigation Center. That said, some areas near Brainerd and Grand Rapids did see their first level of drought rise a little bit.