Unsettled Wednesday, then cooler before heating up next week

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“If I could bottle this up, I’d be rich!” That’s basically the forecast for Thursday all across Minnesota. I have to admit, I am shocked that there was not more improvement in Thursday’s drought monitor for Minnesota, though the most recent rains are not a 1:1 correlation for short-term drought. There could be a couple of raindrops later Friday into early Saturday but the looming story is the heat next week, especially in our southwestern zones. An Extreme Heat Watch is already posted for northwestern Minnesota, but it doesn’t actually start until Sunday. We imagine many more alerts will end up being added closer to the hot times. 

Pack the sunscreen Thursday. Despite the slightly lower humidity, the UV index is remarkably high. And with dusk still coming at 9:00 p.m. on the nose (at least at the Twin Cities latitude) there is lots of opportunity to get a sunburn! Otherwise the weather is remarkably tranquil. Friday could bring a few tiny showers to the far north of Minnesota, but most stay dry through dusk. Temperature trends are actually climbing – we often see the extreme heat start to pull back at the last moments, but not this round! 

We’ll be in the middle-to-upper 80s on Friday into Saturday. Many will wake up Saturday morning, head outside to get a coffee or grab the paper, and think ‘huh, must’ve rained a little this morning.’ The actual daytime should be dry, just really toasty. Some will already be in the 90s, most probably in the upper 80s.

The sunshine is back on Saturday, and we’re simply baking. Sunday, too! The Euro and GFS maps have a few overnight showers bouncing around Minnesota from Saturday night late into early Sunday morning. Most models are then dry until at least Wednesday afternoon of next week. We imagine middle 90s are a safe bet in many areas of Minnesota next week. The question is: who will see rain next and when? There’s certainly a looming threat of flash drought in north-central Minnesota we will need to watch closely.  

We also got a new El Niño update this Thursday morning! Here’s the takeaway for the weather buzzword of 2026, the Super El Niño: 

81 percent chance of a very strong El Niño

 that would rank among the largest El Niño events in the 

Impacts will be greatest this winter and the CPC has a 97 percent chance of ENSO continuing into early 2027. So it’s coming!

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ben Cathey

Author

There could be a couple of raindrops later Friday into early Saturday but the looming story is the heat next week, especially in our southwestern zones.

'Extreme' heat alerts already posted for next week

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