Rainy Wednesday leads to a warmup

Rain showers will fill in Wednesday morning and move east through the midday and afternoon. In northern Minnesota, it will be more snowfall. Winds will be blustery from the southeast.

Saturday is on track to bring our warmest temperatures yet for much of Minnesota but it will be short-lived.

A brief soggy day

The difference between this — our fifth consecutive wet Wednesday — and the previous ones is that this one is moving along.

We’ll see about a five-hour window of precipitation. Expect rain in the Twin Cities and eastern Minnesota by midday into the afternoon. Showers will end early afternoon in the west. Rain will dominate in central and southern Minnesota but northern Minnesota again will see snow.

Northeastern Minnesota can’t seem to catch a break from winter. A winter weather advisory and even a winter storm warning are out for parts of the North Shore.

Up to 5 to 9 inches will fall along portions of the north shore with 1 to 3 inches in pockets through the rest of northeastern Minnesota.

This is the first of three main plumes of Gulf of Mexico moisture attempting to reach Minnesota being drawn northward by quick-moving upper-level disturbances.

Wednesday’s system will be squeezing out one-half inch or more of precipitation, but Friday and Saturday chances will be more convective — thunderstorms. The nature of that activity is more hit and miss. You can make out the path of these storms in the five-day rainfall forecast.

Warmer, stormier weekend

The storm prediction center is watching areas mainly to our south and west on Friday for strong storms.

Saturday is on track to bring our warmest temperatures yet for much of Minnesota but it will be short-lived.

The focus then shifts east but mainly south of us Saturday as a cold front moves into the region.