Rain tonight, then a warming trend

The clouds and rain will linger into tonight, but drier days are in our forecast.

It has been a stubborn area of clouds and rain over southern Minnesota this afternoon. The satellite loop shows that northern Minnesota had a brighter day:

Many spots in northern Minnesota had highs in the 50s this afternoon, except near Lake Superior. We were stuck in the 40s over the south.

The clouds and rain will move out later tonight, and temperatures could drop into the 30s statewide by sunrise tomorrow:

Keep in mind that the official temperature is measured 2 meters (about 6.56 feet) above the ground. When winds are very light, you can have frost at ground level with an official temperature in the mid or upper 30s.

No drought this Spring

Recent rains have helped our soil moisture conditions. The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report for Minnesota was released today. It shows small sections of western Minnesota are abnormally dry, but no part of Minnesota is currently showing drought conditions:

The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced through a partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

One year ago, most of Minnesota was showing either moderate or severe drought:

Last year at this time, it was driest in the northwestern and west-central parts of our state.

Warming trend

It has to get warmer, and it will.

Highs tomorrow will pop back into the 50s over southern Minnesota:

The north will see mostly 50s, with some upper 40s possible near Lake Superior.

The weekend looks even warmer:

We could see scattered showers over far southern Minnesota on Saturday. The Twin Cities area has a shower chance on Monday evening.