Shower, thunderstorm chances Sunday night; breezy, cooler Monday

The Sunday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 78 degrees. That was just 4 degrees shy of our Twin Cities record high for Oct. 23. It was also 24 degrees warmer than our average high (54) for this date.

Many locations in central and southern Minnesota reached the upper 70s, and a few spots topped 80.

If the weekend temps were a bit too warm for you, you might be happy to know that our temperatures will be much closer to normal this coming week.

Gusty winds continue

A strong low-pressure system centered in eastern South Dakota brought wind gusts of 30 to 40-plus mph to much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday afternoon. The low is moving very slowly to the north-northeast, so strong winds will stay with us into Sunday night.

Wind gusts to around 45 mph are possible in some areas Sunday evening and overnight. A wind advisory runs from 7 p.m. Sunday evening to 3 a.m. Monday from Scott and Dakota counties in the south metro into south-central and southeastern Minnesota. Even higher gusts can be expected near any thunderstorms that develop.

Thunderstorm chances, severe weather outlook

Areas of showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop Sunday evening and overnight Sunday night in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Not everyone will see some rain.

A few strong or severe thunderstorms are possible Sunday evening into Sunday night and early Monday. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center shows a slight risk of severe weather (shaded yellow) in southwestern Minnesota during that time period, with a marginal risk (darker green) over much of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin:

Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible. An isolated severe thunderstorm is possible in the marginal risk area, which includes the Twin Cities. The severe weather risk details on the severe weather graphic are from the Twin Cities National Weather Service office.

The Storm Prediction Center updates their severe weather outlook several times each day and night.

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. You can check the MPR News interactive radar display here.

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Sunday evening update

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a severe thunderstorm watch that includes parts of southwestern Minnesota until 10 p.m. this Sunday:

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A few scattered showers and an isolated t-storm will be possible on Monday.

Temperature trends

Monday highs will range from the 50s in western Minnesota to lower 70s in western Wisconsin:

Those temps in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin are early morning highs; falling temps are expected in those areas as we go through Monday afternoon.

Winds gusts in the 25 to 35 mph range are expected in most areas Monday afternoon:

Forecast gusts are in knots, with 26 knots equal to roughly 30 mph.

Temperature trends

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 50s on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by mid 50s Thursday and Friday. A quick look at next weekend shows metro area highs in the upper 50s. That’s a bit above our average high of lower 50s in late October.

Above-normal temps may then linger into the start of the following week. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center shows above-normal temps in Minnesota and Wisconsin from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2:

We’ll see if that pans out.

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.