Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Plenty of sunshine

Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have some of the best weather in the country this weekend.

A high pressure system will bring us plenty of sunshine, with a few scattered, decorative clouds:

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Temperatures will be close to normal, and humidity levels will be low.

Saturday highs will be in the 70s over northern and central Minnesota, with a few spots in the south reaching the lower 80s:

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Similar highs are expected on Sunday:

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Our average high this time of year is 82 degrees in the Twin Cities, so these comfortable temps are just fine!

Warmer, with t-storm chances this week

Our air-conditioners will be busy this coming week.

The Twin Cities and much of southern Minnesota will see highs in the mid 80s on Monday, and upper 80s are possible Tuesday and Wednesday. Dew point temperatures creep back into the 60s on Monday, and we'll probably see 70 degree dew points Tuesday and Wednesday.

Western Minnesota could see scattered thunderstorms Monday night, then the t-storm chances spread over the remainder of the Minnesota on Tuesday.

Minnesota could see some strong thunderstorms and heavy rains Wednesday night and Thursday. The National Weather Service Global Forecast System model shows a low pressure system to our west Thursday morning, with rain over much of Minnesota:

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NWS/GFS model

Forecasting exact rainfall amounts 4 or 5 days in advance is impossible, but the Tuesday through Thursday rainfall totals on this National Weather Service product show some 2 to 3 inch totals:

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National Weather Service

Lets just say that some spots in Minnesota could receive significant rainfall totals, especially from Wednesday night into early Thursday.

No drought

The drought update from U.S. Drought Monitor shows that no part of Minnesota is currently experiencing drought conditions. There is a small part of west-central Minnesota classified as abnormally dry:

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U.S. Drought Monitor

The weekly drought update can be found here.

Programming note:

You can hear my live weather updates at 7:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday on Minnesota Public Radio.