Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Weekend forecast: Comfortable temps; best thunder chance on Saturday

Summer begins on Saturday

Meteorological summer — a period covering the three warmest months of the year — began on June 1. Astronomical summer begins this Saturday. It may feel slightly cool on Saturday, but our temperatures will rebound a bit on Sunday.

Our average Twin Cities high temperature on June 20 is 80 degrees. The Twin Cities metro area will have high temps very close to 80 degrees this Saturday:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Many locations will see Saturday highs in the 70s, with some 60s near Lake Superior.

Saturday dew points will be very typical for June, mainly in the 50s:

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Saturday 1 p.m. forecast dew points
National Weather Service

Drier dew points in the 40s are expected in northeastern Minnesota.

Saturday wind gusts will be moderate:

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Saturday 1 p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Plotted values are in knots, with 10 knots equal to 11.5 mph. I should mention that higher gusts can be expected near any thunderstorms that develop.

Sunday highs reach the 80s in central and southern Minnesota, with 70s elsewhere:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Sunday dew points are in the 50s:

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Sunday 1 p.m. forecast dew points
National Weather Service

Sunday will be a bit breezy by afternoon, with gusts of 15 to 20 mph in many areas:

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Sunday 1 p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Weekend rain chances

For most areas, the best weekend chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms will be Saturday afternoon and evening. Parts of northern Minnesota will also have a good chance of occasional showers and thunderstorms on Sunday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon:

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Simulated radar Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.