Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Warmer, drier weather pattern ahead

More 90s by next week?

6 to 10-day temperature outlook
6 to 10-day temperature outlook
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Well, the first half of summer was a washout for many of us. We’ve recorded at least a trace of rain on six of 10 days in the Twin Cities through June and July, so far.

Now, we peer gingerly ahead into the second half of our Minnesota summer.

Our weather pattern typically trends warmer and drier in the second half of summer, and it looks like we may follow that climatological trend as we move through the next two weeks.

Drier this week

We’ve only been able to string together four totally dry days in a row in most of Minnesota this summer (June 23-26, July 16-19). It looks like we may beat that streak this week. Overall, our weather looks dry and warmer through Saturday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows just a few wisps of cloud cover sailing across Minnesota between now and Saturday:

NOAA GFS model
Global Forecast System model low cloud cover output through Saturday
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

A few scattered storms are possible later Sunday into Monday.

Highs this week will warm gradually through the 80s:

Forecast high temperatures Thursday
Forecast high temperatures Thursday
NOAA

By this weekend, highs will approach 90 degrees in much of southern and western Minnesota:

Forecast high temperatures Sunday
Forecast high temperatures Sunday
NOAA

Hotter next week?

The overall upper-air pattern trend suggests hotter temperatures next week. The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model is cranking out highs near 90 degrees:

European model (ECMWF) temperature forecast
Temperature forecast for Tuesday
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, via Pivotal Weather

NOAA’s six to 10-day temperature outlook favors warmer-than-normal weather through next week:

NOAA 6 to 10-day temperature outlook
6 to 10-day temperature outlook
NOAA

Will we finally get a proper summery week next week?

Stay tuned.