Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Spicy forecast: Sun, rain, 90-degree heat and a tropical storm?

A wild variety of weather arrives in the next week

Photos of four seasons.
Get ready for a wide variety of weather over the next week in Minnesota.
NOAA

“Variety's the very spice of life, that gives it all it's flavor.” — William Cowper

If variety truly is the spice of life, then Minnesota’s weather looks plenty spicy in the next week. And Minnesota is going to taste a weather smorgasbord over the next several days.

Picture perfect now

Today’s weather is about as close to perfection as we get in Minnesota. Highs in the 70s and low 80s and comfortable dew points in the 40s and 50s make for very comfortable conditions.

Minnesota’s air mas is much more comfortable today than areas further south. Heat indices reach the 90s in Iowa to over 100 degrees in Oklahoma.

Heat index values Friday
Heat index values Friday
Oklahoma Mesonet

Mostly nice weekend

Saturday will be the nicer day of the weekend for most of Minnesota. Heat and humidity return Sunday. The best chances for storms arrive Sunday.

NOAA’s NAM 3 km resolution model suggests a few thunderstorms in southwest Minnesota Saturday. Then another wave likely crosses the state overnight Saturday night into Sunday morning.

NOAA NAM 3 km model
NOAA NAM 3 km model Saturday into Sunday
NOAA via tropical tidbits

The best chance for rain and thunder in the Twin Cities this weekend appears to be before or around dawn Sunday morning. Behind the warm front, the southwest half of Minnesota busts into a warm steamy air mass Sunday afternoon.

Forecast high temperatures Sunday
Forecast high temperatures Sunday
NOAA

Monday heat wave

Monday brings a one-day heatwave to Minnesota. A sunny but hazy, hot, and humid air mass blows in. Highs should easily reach the 90s across much of Minnesota Monday afternoon.

Forecast high temperatures Monday
Forecast high temperatures Monday
NOAA

Tropical Storm Cristobal moisture Tuesday?

Tropical Storm Cristobal is still on track for a Gulf Coast landfall late Sunday or Monday. It’s interesting to note that parts of Minnesota are in the “cone of uncertainty” for Cristobal’s eventual path as it shoots north up the Mississippi Valley and transitions to tropical depression status early next week.

Tropical Storm Cristobal
Tropical Storm Cristobal
NOAA/National Hurricane Center

Mositure from Cristobal will be injected and absorbed into another low-pressure system crossing the Upper Midwest next week. That could enhance rainfall totals. The European model suggests multi-inch rainfall for eastern Iowa, parts of Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

European model (ECMWF) precipitation output
European model (ECMWF) precipitation output through next Wednesday
ECMWF via pivotal weather

So in less than a week, we enjoy perfect early summer weather, thunderstorms, 90-degree heat and humidity, and rainfall from a tropical system.

Spicy indeed.