Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Warm Sunday with gusty winds; Strong or severe t-storms possible Sunday evening

Fall color update for leaf-peepers

The Saturday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 77 degrees. That was just four degrees shy of our record Oct. 22 high in the Twin Cities, and twenty-two degrees warmer than our average high for this date.

Parts of southwestern and south-central Minnesota saw highs in the lower 80s. Sunday will be another warm day.

Sunday temps and winds

A low pressure system will be centered over South Dakota Sunday morning, then it’ll track northeastward. It’ll bring strong winds to Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Sunday highs will rise well into the 70s across much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Parts of southwestern and south-central Minnesota will top 80. Far northern Minnesota will have highs in the 60s.

Wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph will develop in many locations by Sunday afternoon:

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

Forecast wind gusts are in knots, with 28 knots equal to 32.2 mph.

Dew points will rise into the 50s on Sunday, and will probably reach the upper 50s in some areas Sunday afternoon:

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

Thunderstorm chances Sunday evening into early Monday

Some areas of showers and thunderstorms are possible late Sunday and Sunday night. That shower and thunderstorm chance could begin late Sunday afternoon in western and far southern Minnesota, then expand to include the rest of Minnesota plus western Wisconsin Sunday evening and overnight Sunday night.  

A few strong and severe thunderstorms are possible Sunday evening into Sunday night/early Monday. The NWS storm Prediction Center shows a slight risk of severe weather during that time period from southwestern and south-central Minnesota northward to the far western portion of the Twin Cities metro area:

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Severe weather outlook Sunday evening into early Monday
NWS Storm Prediction Center/Twin Cities NWS

Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible. An isolated severe t-storm is possible in that same time period elsewhere in the metro area, as well as across central and southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin. That’s the dark-green shaded area in the National Weather Service graphic.

We have updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News network, and on the MPR News live weather blog.

Temperatures retreat this week

Our Monday high in the Twin Cities could be in the upper 60s very early Monday morning, with falling temps through the day, possibly reaching the mid 50s by late Monday afternoon. Metro area highs are projected to be in the lower 50s Tuesday through Thursday, followed by mid 50s on Friday.

Fall color update

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Fall colors Oct. 21, 2022 St. Paul
Ron Trenda/MPR News

Some trees have dropped most of their leaves, but there are still pockets of good fall color in portions of southern and central Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fall color report for Minnesota State Parks and Trails looks like this:

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Fall colors
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

The Wisconsin fall color report can be found here.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.