Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Pleasant Tuesday; rain chances Tuesday night, Wednesday

Recap of weekend rain

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Monday at Lake Harriet, Minneapolis
Ron Trenda/MPR News

It was a very pleasant Monday, with comfortable temperatures and dew points and plenty of sunshine in most areas.

Parts of northwestern and north-central Minnesota have seen some very scattered showers and thunderstorms during the late afternoon hours. Additional scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible in far northern Minnesota into Monday evening.

You can hear 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 CitiesDuluthLa Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D., Grand Forks, N.D.

Tuesday and Wednesday rain opportunities?

Many areas saw meaningful rain amounts Saturday. Here’s the rainfall map from 7 a.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday:

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24-hour rainfall ending at 7 a.m. June 25
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Some locations saw additional rain Sunday and Sunday night. Here’s the rainfall map from 7 a.m. Sunday to 7 a.m. Monday:

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24-hour rainfall ending at 7 a.m. June 26
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Despite the recent rain, many areas are still running quite a rainfall deficit for May and June.

Western and northern Minnesota could see some scattered showers and thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon. Rain chances will then spread into the remainder of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin as we go through Tuesday evening and overnight into Wednesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model shows the potential rain pattern from 4 a.m. Tuesday to 11 p.m. Tuesday:

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Simulated radar from 4 a.m. Tuesday to 11 p.m. Tuesday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

There will be probably be quite a few areas of showers and thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon and evening. Check forecast updates.

The Monday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 84 degrees. That was two degrees warmer than the average June 26 Twin Cities high temperature.

Metro area highs will be in the mid 80s on Tuesday. Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will reach the 80s Tuesday afternoon:

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Tuesday forecast highs
National Weather Service

There will be some 70s near Lake Superior.

Wednesday highs will be mainly in the 80s in the southern half of Minnesota, with 70s to the north:

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Wednesday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 80s on Wednesday, followed by mid-80s Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Sunday and the following week may feature above-normal temperatures, according to the July 2 through July 6 temperature outlook from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center:

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Temperatue outlook July 2 through July 6
National Weather Service

Air quality alert in Wisconsin

An air quality alert continues for several more days in Wisconsin. Here are details, from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources:

WIZ014>016-023>028-291700- Polk-Barron-Rusk-St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-Chippewa-Eau Claire- Including the cities of Osceola, Rice Lake, Ladysmith, Hudson, River Falls, Menomonie, Durand, Chippewa Falls, and Eau Claire 657 AM CDT Mon Jun 26 2023 ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON THURSDAY, JUNE 29TH... The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued an Air Quality Advisory for PM2.5 which will remain in effect until noon Thursday, June 29th. This advisory affects the full state of Wisconsin. Smoke originating from Canadian wildfires will spread from north- to-south on Monday, June 26, impacting PM2.5 concentrations at the surface. We expect this situation to remain highly dynamic over the coming days and will adjust messaging as needed. For Monday, June 26th, we expect the heaviest smoke impacts across the eastern half of the state, where the Air Quality Index (AQI) is expected to be within the UNHEALTHY category but could reach the VERY UNHEALTHY category. People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion and consider avoiding all physical outdoor activities; everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion and consider avoiding prolonged or heavy exertion. At this time, we anticipate the eastern half of the state to see the heaviest surface smoke through the episode, with noon Tuesday through noon Wednesday currently appearing to be the timing of heaviest impact. The AQI will likely range from the UNHEALTHY to VERY UNHEALTHY categories, but we cannot rule out the possibility of the AQI reaching the HAZARDOUS category. For more information on current air quality, please see: https://airquality.wi.gov

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.