Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

A gorgeous Saturday; Rain returns Sunday, lingers into Monday

Much cooler Sunday

We’ll enjoy gorgeous summer weather across much of Minnesota this Saturday. There could be a few very scattered showers in far northern Minnesota. Far northwestern Wisconsin could see a few scattered showers by later this afternoon.

Rain chances ramp up on Sunday as a low pressure system spins moisture over much of Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin. Many areas will see periods of rain Sunday and Sunday night into Monday, with a few embedded thunderstorms also possible.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern from 4 a.m. Sunday to 6p.m. Monday:

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NAM simulated radar from 4 a.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

The NAM model shows the rain arriving in parts of the Twin Cities metro area Sunday afternoon, with most of the metro area seeing rain Sunday night into Monday.

NOAA’s Finite Volume Cubed Sphere (FV3) forecast model shows a somewhat different rain pattern for that same time period, with the metro area seeing some rain as early as Sunday morning:

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FV3 simulated radar from 4 a.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

NOAA’s HRRR model shows the rain beginning in the metro area Sunday afternoon:

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HRRR simulated radar from 4 a.m. Sunday to 7 a.m. Monday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

We’ll see how the forecast models change over the next 24 hours…stay tuned.

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. Also check out the MPR News display of National Weather Service radar.

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

After the Sunday/Monday rain event, the next chance of meaningful rain in the Twin Cities metro area appears to be Wednesday night into early Thursday.

The average Twin Cities high temperature is 81 degrees on Aug. 12. Metro area highs are forecast to reach the lower 80s this Saturday.

Saturday high temps will be in the 80s across roughly the southern half of Minnesota, with mainly 70s to the north. Parts of far northeastern Minnesota will have highs in the 60s.

Sunday highs will be mainly in the 60s, with lower 70s from the Twin Cities metro area into southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Monday highs will be in the 70s in most areas, with some 60s in southeastern Minnesota and western Wwisconsin:

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Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 80s on Tuesday, followed by mid 80s Wednesday then upper 70s Thursday and lower 80s 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.