Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Flood warnings north, cooler and much less humid Wednesday. More rain Thursday

Additional rain chances develop Friday into Saturday

dlh flood
Flood warning for portions of northeast Minnesota through 4 p.m. Wednesday
National Weather Service

It’ll be cooler and considerably less humid Wednesday. Some showers will linger in southeast Minnesota, but most will be dry before more rain develops for southern Minnesota Thursday.

Torrential rains and flood warnings north

Flood warnings continue for much of the Iron Range in northeast Minnesota through 4 p.m. Wednesday.

dlh flood
Flood warning for portions of northeast Minnesota through 4 p.m. Wednesday
National Weather Service

Radar estimated rainfall shows the heaviest areas of rainfall Tuesday into Tuesday night. There were several swaths over 5 inches.

radar est
Radar estimated rainfall from Tuesday into early Wednesday
College of DuPage Weather

More specifically, there were a couple extreme rainfall reports actually measured in local rain gauges. 7.33 inches fell 19 miles north of Two Harbors and 7.30 inches fell in Marble, just about 10 miles northeast of Grand Rapids. There were numerous 4 and 5-plus inch amounts. These are values one would expect in a tropical storm.

rain reports
24 hour rainfall reports for northeast Minnesota
National Weather Service

The Duluth National Weather Service office is cautioning people near any of the North Shore waterfalls or even advocating avoidance. Much of last night’s rainfall will take time to reach some of the streams and small rivers so levels could still rise significantly.

waterfalls
Waterfall safety from the National Weather Service office in Duluth
National Weather Service

On a statewide basis, all of this extra water most of us have seen with more on the way will reach river basins and cause the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers (among others) to continue to rise in the coming days.

rivers
River gauges and forecast stages
National Weather Service

The Mississippi river at Saint Paul for example, is forecast to reach near major flood stage by Tuesday rising a further 5-6 feet from current levels.

Cooler, mainly dry Wednesday. But more rain is ahead

Enjoy a mostly dry day for most of the state for a change. It won’t last real long, just today. Dew points will continue to drop, making for a more comfortable day, too. 

wed dews
Forecast dew points 5 a.m. through 7 p.m. Wednesday
College of DuPage Weather

We’ll have a mix of clouds and filtered sunshine and it will be cooler. Highs will be mostly in the 70s with upper 60s in northern Minnesota.

wed hi 8
Forecast highs Wednesday
National Weather Service

The next round of showers and thunderstorms develops Wednesday night into Thursday for central and southern Minnesota.

thu prec 8a
Forecast precipitation 7 p.m. Wednesday through 1 a.m. Friday
NOAA via pivotal weather

Another surge of moisture will spread rain and thunder statewide Friday into Saturday.

fri-sat prec 8a
Forecast precipitation 1 a.m. Friday through 1 a.m. Sunday
European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting via pivotal weather

Additional rainfall could come in at several inches with some locally heavier amounts into the weekend. It appears at this point the heaviest rainfall Thursday into Saturday will fall mainly in southern and southwest Minnesota.

WPC 120
Forecast additional rainfall totals through the weekend
NOAA via pivotal weather

Most should get a largely dry break Sunday into Monday.