Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Rain possible Thursday night, Friday night and into Saturday

Cooler temps Friday and Saturday

Some patches of rain are expected to move across Minnesota and western Wisconsin overnight Thursday night into early Friday morning. There could be a few thunderstorms as well.

Friday afternoon will be dry in most areas, but there could be a few showers in southeastern Minnesota.

A low-pressure system tracks from Iowa, through far southeastern Minnesota and into Wisconsin from Friday night through Saturday. A swath of mainly rain is expected Friday night into Saturday in the southeastern half of Minnesota and into Wisconsin.

There will be some snow or a mix of rain and snow in south-central Minnesota and northeastern Minnesota. The western portion of the Twin Cities metro could see a few flakes mixed with the rain showers early Saturday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 5 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Saturday:

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Simulated radar from 5 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Saturday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

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.

Our average Nov. 4 high temperature is 48 degrees in the Twin Cities. We’re expecting Friday daytime highs in the mid-40s for much of the metro area. We’ll share 40s with most of Minnesota plus western Wisconsin:

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Friday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Saturday highs will also be mainly in the 40s:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

A few spots in southwestern and far southeastern Minnesota could top 50 degrees.

Sunday highs will be in the 40s north with 50s elsewhere:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

More than half of Minnesota now in drought

The drought is expanding in Minnesota.

The latest report from U.S. Drought Monitor shows extreme drought conditions (shaded red) from western Ramsey County and northwestern Dakota County through much of Hennepin County and the southwest metro, as well as Sibley County, southeastern McLeod County and portions of southwestern Minnesota:

drought monitor
U.S. Drought Monitor shows expanding drought in Minnesota
National Drought Mitigation Center

The portion of Minnesota in extreme drought has increased from 4.20 percent last week to 6.54 percent this week. The percentage of Minnesota that is experiencing drought has gone from 44.79 percent last week to 51.98 percent this week.

Back to standard time at 2 a.m. Sunday

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. this Sunday, Nov. 6. If you have any clocks or watches that don’t automatically adjust, you can turn them back one hour before you go to bed Saturday night.

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Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday
National Weather Service

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.

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