Weekend rain totals highest in southern Minnesota; Dry start to the work week
Minnesota River will return to flood stage in many locations
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Spring brings us beautiful blossoms and periods of rain. It’s unfortunate when rain interferes with outdoor plans.
The northern half of Minnesota is enjoying plenty of sunshine today, while clouds linger over much of southern Minnesota. Many locations from the southern third of Minnesota into west-central and southwestern Wisconsin have seen some Sunday morning showers.
A pesky low pressure system will slowly move away this afternoon, with showers ending by midday in central parts of the metro area, Showers could linger into mid afternoon in the far south metro and into early evening in portions of southeastern Minnesota.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid-Refresh model shows the potential rain pattern from 6 p.m. Sunday to 11 p.m. Sunday:
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Monday looks dry, but there could be some early morning fog.
Impressive rainfall totals in southern Minnesota
St. Peter, Minn., has tallied 4.43 inches of rain in the past 24 hours. There are several locations with 3 to 4-inch weekend rainfall totals:
The heavy rain likely contributed to a mudslide near Courtland.
Heavy rains also hit parts of southern Minnesota a few days ago. Here are rain totals since Wednesday:
A flood watch continues for a large portion of southern Minnesota until 1 p.m. Sunday.
Rivers are rising
Recent heavy rains have led to rising rivers in southern Minnesota.
You can check the river levels at various locations in Minnesota and western Wisconsin here. This is how the linked map looked Sunday morning:
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 today:
The Minnesota River at Jordan is forecast to rise more than nine feet by next Saturday, reaching moderate flood stage on Wednesday.
You can find updated flood warning information at the following National Weather Service sites: Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D., Grand Forks, N.D.
Temperature trends
Many northern and central Minnesota spots will have Sunday highs in the 70s. Cooler 60s are expected in far southern Minnesota and the southern part of the Twin Cities metro area. A few spots in the north metro could top 70.
Monday highs will be mainly in the 70s, with some lower 80s in northwestern and north-central Minnesota.
The Twin Cities metro area will see some upper 70s. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 70s on Monday and Tuesday, followed by mid-70s Wednesday then upper 60s Thursday and 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.