Scattered showers Thursday; frosty temperatures on their way

Scattered showers dampened portions of Minnesota with light rain overnight Wednesday. Showers are lingering Thursday morning in southeastern Minnesota while the rest have exited into Wisconsin.

Look for some isolated showers to pop up this Thursday afternoon as two cold fronts track southeastward across our state.

High temperatures on Thursday should be in the upper 40s in the north, 50s over most of the state, and some low 60s farther south including the Twin Cities. Winds will be a bit brisk Thursday afternoon as they become northwesterly.

Frosty weather and maybe some flakes on the way

Colder Canadian air behind those cold fronts will treat us to a few days of colder-than-normal temperatures.

Areas of frost are likely in parts of northern and central Minnesota, outside the Twin Cities area, Friday morning.

Look for colder temperatures all day on Friday with highs only from the mid 40s to the mid 50s. Some snowflakes might even break out across northern Minnesota.

Widespread frost and freeze Friday night

The chilly air will be upon us Friday night. Frost can form on surfaces when temperatures drop to about 40 degrees or cooler if skies are mostly clear and winds are light. While air temperatures measured at approximately eye level might be warmer than freezing, radiating surfaces such as your garden or vehicle might become colder.

Frost can form if the temperature of those surfaces dips to or below 32 degrees.

Frost is likely for most of Minnesota by early Saturday morning. Frost might be a bit scattered in the core of the Twin Cities due to the urban heat island effect, but don't trust it to protect your petunias.

A hard freeze, meaning that the measured air temperature falls below the freezing point, is likely for about the northern half of the state by early Saturday.

High temperatures Saturday and Sunday should be mainly from the mid 40s to the mid 50s.

An approaching weather system should kick off some showers and maybe thunderstorms at times from Sunday through Monday.

Milder temperatures early next week, then chilly again

The outlook is for cooler weather as we get farther into the first week of October. The 8-14 day temperature outlook for Oct. 4 through Oct. 10 calls for below-normal temperatures for our part of the country.

Storms in the Atlantic

Tropical Storm Kirk is bearing down on the Lesser Antilles while post-Tropical Storm Leslie is a huge swirl with hurricane-force winds in the central Atlantic.

Kirk will drop heavy rain on Caribbean islands such as Martinique and Barbados Thursday.