Recent heavy rain helps some, misses others

Rain over the past week helped some parts of Minnesota in drought, while providing little relief to other portions of the state.  Upcoming rain accumulation chances stay limited until the end of the week.

Recent rain

A couple rounds of heavy rain moved through Minnesota between last Monday and Monday morning of this week, but not everywhere in the state got the soaking rain they needed.  Much of western and southern Minnesota saw over an inch of rain, while the area north of the Twin Cities and up through the Arrowhead predominantly saw a half an inch or less. 

When compared to the parts of the state in abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions, west-central Minnesota likely got enough rain to put a dent in their dry conditions, while the Arrowhead missed most of the needed rain. 

An updated Drought Monitor will be published Thursday morning.

Upcoming precipitation

Chances for additional rain accumulation through Thursday remain limited. There will be enough instability for scattered showers and storms to develop across Minnesota Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, but most places will see under a quarter inch of total precipitation.

Thursday should stay predominantly dry, but showers and storms move in overnight with a storm system likely to impact the majority of the state Friday. The weather models still vary widely on how much rain that system could bring, but we’ll keep you posted!

Temperatures

The month of June has been warmer than average across Minnesota, with the Twin Cities averaging over 5 degrees above normal temperatures. The first half of this week provides a break from the warmth with most of the state seeing temperatures in the 70s. However, the heat is on its way back, and parts of the state could see 90s again by the start of next week.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.