Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Warm weekend, but cooler northwestern MN

The past couple of days have been windy, but that should come as no surprise. April is our windiest month of the year in the Twin Cities.

We topped out at 77 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport today, which is 19 degrees above normal. I suspect that a few people took long Friday lunches, or left work early.

We have a low pressure system to our west, with warm southerly breezes over much of Minnesota. The low will drift slowly eastward this weekend:

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Northwestern Minnesota will have the best chance of rain this weekend, but central parts of our state could see some scattered showers on Sunday.

Warmest southeast this weekend

Our coolest highs on Saturday will be over northwestern Minnesota, while highs will be in the warm 70s over the southeast:

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Highs on Sunday will be similar, with the coolest air remaining over the far northwest:

Cooler Monday and Tuesday

Temps dip a bit on Monday and Tuesday, with highs in the 60s:

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Global Forecast System data, via Weatherspark

High in the 70s could return as early as Wednesday. We might see some scattered showers on Monday and Tuesday, but we may have to wait until next weekend for better rain chances in the Twin Cities.

Severe Weather Awareness Week

As part of severe weather awareness week, we should mention the dangers of extremely hot weather. According to the National Weather Service: "the third greatest number of weather fatalities in Minnesota since 1990 has been due to excessive heat. Eighteen people have died from high heat and humidity. Only tornadoes and flooding have killed more people in the last 25 years" .

More information on the dangers of extremely hot weather, and hot weather survival tips, can be found here .   

Programming note: You can hear my live weather updates at 735 am weekend mornings on Minnesota Public Radio.