Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Supermoon eclipse tonight; scattered storms Wednesday into Thursday

Signs of colder air ahead next week?

An orange full moon rises
A full blue supermoon rises next to the Prospect Park water tower, also known as the "Witch's Hat," in Minneapolis on Aug. 19.
Ben Hovland | MPR News

In case you missed it here is my post from Monday with all the details of Tuesday evening’s Supermoon eclipse show. Check it out tonight!

There’s finally a chance for some much-needed rainfall in our forecast.

A weak cool front will cross Minnesota Thursday. Ahead of the front, scattered showers and a few thunderstorms will slide across Minnesota Wednesday into Thursday. Coverage looks spotty at any one time, but many of us have at least a chance for a minor soaking.

NOAA’s HRRR model below shows spotty rainfall coverage between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 7 p.m. Thursday.

There is a slight risk for severe storms with winds to 60 mph and hail to 1 inch in diameter with this system Thursday across eastern Minnesota.

Overall rainfall coverage looks patchy but some lucky lawns and fields could pick up an inch or rain.

European model (ECMWF) precipitation output
European model (ECMWF) precipitation output through Friday morning.
ECMWF via pivotal weather

Warm week continues

Highs Wednesday continues to run well into the 80s across most of Minnesota.

Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
Forecast high temperatures Wednesday.
NOAA

The warmer-than-normal weather continues through Friday, with highs in the 70s north to around 80 degrees in the Twin Cities and the south.

Forecast high temperatures Friday
Forecast high temperatures Friday.
NOAA

Colder next week?

The overall jet stream pattern shows some changes next week. A cool front early next week could keep highs in the 60s north to 70s south. We may warm up again later next week, but there are signs of an even stronger cold front by the last weekend of September.

Upper air forecast map for
NOAA GFS 500-millibar height anomaly between Saturday, September 21 and 28th.
NOAA via tropical tidbits

Fall-like temperatures will arrive eventually.

Stay tuned.