Soaking rains Thursday into early Saturday; MN drought conditions updated
Fall color update for leaf-peepers
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Rain is on the way, and we need it. Here’s the U.S. Drought Monitor report that was released Thursday morning:
The report shows that 72.6 percent of Minnesota is currently in drought, with severe drought (shaded orange) extending from northwestern Minnesota into southeastern Minnesota and parts of southwestern Minnesota.
The red-shaded areas in portions of central and southern Minnesota are in extreme drought.
We have some soaking rains in the forecast, so many areas are likely to improve by about one drought category in the coming days.
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Rain forecast
A low-pressure system that’s currently over southern Nebraska will move slowly eastward Thursday through Friday night and Saturday morning. It will spin rain over much of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota.
The rain has already begun in far southern Minnesota, and rain could arrive in the Twin Cities metro area by late Thursday afternoon. It will be raining much of Thursday evening and through Friday and Friday night.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential rain pattern from 7 p.m. Thursday to noon on Saturday:
Two to 3 inches of rain are expected in roughly the southern half of Minnesota from Thursday into Saturday morning:
Lower rain totals are expected to the north.
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.
Weekend temps
The average Twin Cities high temperature is 59 degrees on Oct. 14. Metro area highs are forecast to be in the lower 50s this Saturday.
Most of Minnesota plus west-central Wisconsin will top out in the lower 50s this Saturday:
Highs in the 40s are expected Saturday in north-central and northeastern Minnesota plus northwestern Wisconsin.
Sunday highs reach the lower 50s in most areas:
Fall color report
Portions of northern Minnesota are past peak for fall colors, but beautiful fall colors are still on display across much of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fall color report for Minnesota State Parks and Trails looks like this:
When you look at the fall color map, keep in mind that all deciduous trees are included, not just maples.
The Wisconsin fall color report can be found here.
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.