Thunderstorms in many areas into Saturday evening and overnight; Severe weather is possible

Updated at 4:45 p.m.

There is plenty of unstable air over Minnesota and western Wisconsin right now.

A low pressure system in southeastern North Dakota will drift eastward through Saturday evening and overnight, with areas of thunderstorms continuing to develop over Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Tornado watch northwestern Minnesota

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a tornado watch valid until 7 p.m. for portions of northwestern Minnesota:

Here are watch details:

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 371 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 340 PM CDT Sat Jun 24 2023 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Northwest to west-central Minnesota Southeast North Dakota * Effective this Saturday afternoon and evening from 340 PM until 700 PM CDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible SUMMARY...A few low-topped supercells may persist through early evening with a continued threat for brief tornadoes. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 55 statute miles north and south of a line from 25 miles west of Fargo ND to 20 miles south of Bemidji MN. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... REMEMBER...A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings. && OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 370... AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 50 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 350. Mean storm motion vector 16020. ...Grams

Severe weather outlook

There is the potential for severe weather in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Saturday afternoon and evening and into the overnight hours

The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center shows a slight risk of severe weather (shaded yellow) in portions of southern Minnesota, and also in a smaller section of northern Minnesota. There is a marginal severe weather risk (darker green) in a broad section of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin:

Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible, with an isolated severe thunderstorm possible in the marginal risk area, which includes the Twin Cities. There have already been some severe weather warnings Saturday afternoon in parts of Minnesota.

Here are the severe weather categories that are used by the Storm Prediction Center:

Here’s a discussion of the severe weather potential, and please note that the severe weather risk continues into Saturday evening:

And here’s a discussion of the severe weather potential in portions of northern Minnesota:

Warning information

Make sure that you have a way to receive weather warnings through Saturday evening and overnight.

You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. You can find the latest radar here.

You can also check these National Weather Service sites for updated weather info: Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D., Grand Forks, N.D.

Sunday rain chance

The low pressure system moves into east-central Minnesota early sunday and then into Wisconsin. Thunderstorm chances will be highest Sunday in Wisconsin, with some wraparound showers and a few spotty t-storms still possible in Minnesota.

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.