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It was great to see the skies brighten in the Twin Cities metro area Sunday afternoon. Northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin had a lot of sunshine all day.
Heavy rain recap
Parts of southern Minnesota saw heavy rain Wednesday night into Thursday, followed by additional periods of heavy rain Saturday and Saturday night.
St. Peter, Minn., tallied 4.43 inches of rain from Saturday through 7 a.m. Sunday, with a bit more on top of that into Sunday afternoon.
There are several locations in southern Minnesota with 2 to 4-inch weekend rainfall totals:
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Rain totals from 7 a.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday
NOAA/National Weather Service
Weekend rainfall plus the rain from Wednesday night and Thursday put some areas over 6 inches:
Since Wednesday it has rained A LOT down around Mankato. The map shows observed rainfall since Wed. The most, at over 8" has been seen near Comfrey. If you ever wanted to see Minneopa Falls at their grandest, today would be the day to see them! #mnwxpic.twitter.com/hnbolfGkBT
Some rivers have been rising rapidly or are forecast to rise substantially in the coming days. You can check the river levels at various locations in Minnesota and western Wisconsin here. This is how the linked map looked Sunday afternoon:
River gauges and status
NOAA/NWS/U.S. Geological Survey
You can zoom in on the linked map page and get detailed info on river levels at a specific location.
River levels are measured in relation to the height above a local benchmark. In some locations, river levels are listed in feet above sea level.
Here’s the hydrograph of recent, current and forecast levels for the Cottonwood River at New Ulm, which is expected to reach major flood stage this Sunday night:
Cottonwood River at New Ulm
NOAA/NWS/U.S. Geological Survey
The Minnesota River at Jordan is forecast to rise more than nine feet between now and next Saturday, reaching moderate flood stage on Wednesday.
Minnesota River at Jordan
NOAA/NWS/U.S. Geological Survey
The Mississippi River at St. Paul is forecast to rise more than six feet between now and next Sunday, reaching moderate flood stage on Saturday.
Mississippi River at St. Paul
NOAA/NWS/U.S. Geological Survey
Dry start to the week
A nearby high pressure system will lighten up the winds, allowing areas of fog to develop in central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin late Sunday night. Areas of fog will linger into early Monday morning.
Generally rain-free weather is expected in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Monday and Tuesday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern from 9 a.m. Monday to 7 p.m. Tuesday:
Simulated radar from 9 a.m. Monday through 7 p.m. Tuesday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com
Rain chances return to Minnesota and western Wisconsin Wednesday night into Thursday, but next Saturday is looking fairly dry.
You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network.
Temperature trends
The average Twin Cities high temperature is 69 degrees on May 15. Monday highs are expected to reach the mid 70s in the metro area.
Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have Monday highs in the 70s, with lower 80s in parts of northwestern and north-central Minnesota:
Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 70s to around 80 on Tuesday, followed by mid-70s Wednesday then lower 70s Thursday and upper 60s on Friday.
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. each Saturday and Sunday.
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