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Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News
Ben Cathey

Two waves of colder rain next week

From a hint of tropical moisture to snowflakes flying (what!?) it will be a busier stretch

Rain totals through next Friday
There are two big pockets of rain into next week. The totals are likely to be heavier in western and southwestern zones.
ECMWF

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Drought remains largely unchanged across Minnesota in the October 7 update from the U.S. Drought Monitor. That comes out each Thursday morning. Despite the fact that the Twin Cities region is nearly seven inches behind on precipitation in 2026 - when compared with the average year-to-date - soil moisture has improved deeper into the soils nearby. Farmers may also want dry weather now as they strive to catch up on the harvest. The newest United States Department of Agriculture report, released Monday, shows that soybeans were at a 25 percent harvest rate. Normally that is 51 percent through the same date across Minnesota.

Tangential rain from Rachel
While Isaias and Simon will not impact Minnesota - at least not directly - Rachel could. It's not the strongest argument but some limited amount of moisture could reach northern Minnesota by Sunday night or, more likely, Monday morning.
ECMWF via WeatherBell

We are mostly dry through the coming weekend. That dry weather happens even as our weather team tracks three named tropical systems. There is Hurricane Isaias in the Atlantic, with Rachel and Simon in the Pacific. Only Rachel could tangentially impact Minnesota with rain. That could come Sunday night for northwest Minnesota. Rain stalls out up there before spreading to the rest of the state on Monday.

Rain a week out
We are a week out from heavy rain into next week. Here's what the GIF looks like from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. This is late next Wednesday - early next Friday.
ECMWF

That rain will be fairly widespread and decently heavy. Temperatures then drop substantially for the workweek. Another powerful front brings a more direct pop of rain coming from the Rockies. That might even have a hint of snow for northern Minnesota. That’s actually totally common up north. International Falls typically gets its first measurable snow on October 22. This would be only a few days before.