Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Another shot at 80 degrees by Saturday

Warmth returns late this week. Next week looks cooler and wetter.

Temperatures Wednesday afternoon
Temperatures Wednesday afternoon
Oklahoma Mesonet

Summerlike warmth is in no hurry to exit Minnesota this October.

See all that red on the temperature map in the Dakotas Wednesday afternoon? It will ooze eastward into Minnesota once again Friday and Saturday.

Thursday brings a few more clouds to Minnesota. Highs will be mostly in the 70s once again. But by Friday, I expect more sunshine and a warm southerly breeze to pump afternoon high temperatures up to near 80 degrees in western Minnesota.

Forecast high temperatures Friday
Forecast high temperatures Friday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Saturday brings another warm day across the south with highs in the upper 70s to near 80 degrees once again.

Forecast high temperatures Saturday
Forecast high temperatures Saturday
NOAA

The average high for the Twin Cities Saturday is 61 degrees, so temperatures will be a good 15 to 20 degrees warmer than average for Oct. 9. Next week looks cooler with highs generally in the 60s.

Rain favors the northern half of Minnesota

A low-pressure system will track closer to northern Minnesota this weekend. That will put the best coverage of scattered rain and thunder across the northern half of Minnesota.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model paints scattered rain and a few thunderstorms favoring the northern half on Minnesota from Friday through Sunday.

NOAA GFS model Friday and Saturday
NOAA GFS model Friday into Sunday
NOAA via tropical tidbits

Rainfall totals up north could reach an inch to 2 inches under heavier rain cells. The Twin Cities and southern Minnesota are likely to pick up very little rainfall through the upcoming weekend.

European model (ECMWF) precipitation output
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts precipitation output through Sunday
ECMWF, via pivotal weather