Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

More spotty storms Friday then a warm, mostly dry weekend

Potentially stormy and hotter next week

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Forecast precipitation 5 a.m. through 8 p.m. Friday
College of DuPage weather lab

Look for more spotty thunderstorms Friday with a mix of clouds and sun. The weekend will be mainly dry and very warm. More stormy and hot weather is on tap for next week.

Spotty storms Friday; weekend’s mostly dry

The rains have been feast or famine the last few days. Some lucky spots in western Minnesota have seen more than a couple of inches of very localized rainfall.

Portions of the southeast Twin Cities metro area along with southeastern Minnesota into western Wisconsin have seen little measurable rain.

72 hour rains
72 hour rainfall totals
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, via Pivotal Weather

We need at least 1 inch of rain per week this time of year to keep up with normal rainfall levels.

Most of the state is carrying over deficits from May of 1 to 3 inches. Only western Minnesota saw adequate or even a bit of surplus rainfall this week. Most of northern and eastern Minnesota saw deficits grow over the past seven days.

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Seven-day rainfall anomalies
NOAA, via WeatherBell Analytics

A slowly moving cool front and just a bit of sunshine and lingering muggy dew points in central and southern Minnesota will once again create spotty thunderstorm development across central and southern Minnesota Friday.

precFRI652
Forecast precipitation 5 a.m. through 8 p.m. Friday
College of DuPage weather lab

An isolated storm could be strong or severe in southern Minnesota. There’s a marginal risk (level 1of 5) forecast for central and southern Minnesota Friday.

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Severe weather outlook for Friday
National Weather Service

With a sun-cloud mix, temperatures will warm back into the 80s for most, especially in southern Minnesota.

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Forecast highs Friday
National Weather Service

The unsettled weather largely moves on for the weekend. We’ll see brighter skies and very warm conditions Saturday and Sunday. Sunday may yield some isolated storms in southern Minnesota late in the day.

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Forecast highs Saturday and Sunday
National Weather Service

Next week is looking hotter with some potential storm chances.

We’ll be on the western edge of a developing upper-level high-pressure area or “heat dome.” That is the ideal location, in southwest flow aloft, to produce some chances of storms in addition to some pretty hot weather mid to late week.

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Forecast upper level pattern midweek next week
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, via Pivotal Weather

The potential for severe weather, especially midweek, will need to be monitored next week. Already some experimental modeling focuses on Wednesday for strong or severe storms.

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Potential severe risk for Wednesday next week
NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory

We’ll likely see at least a couple days with widespread highs in the 90s in Minnesota by mid to late week next week.

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Forecast highs Wednesday
National Weather Service