Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Rainy Election Day in Minnesota; drier Wednesday through Friday

Widespread rain across Minnesota Wednesday.

Twin Cities area forecast at a glance
Twin Cities area forecast at a glance.
Twin Cities National Weather Service office

Bring the rain gear if you’re voting this Election Day. A low-pressure system will spread rain from south to north across Minnesota Tuesday.

Rainfall will begin in southern Minnesota along the Interstate 90 corridor by early morning. It will push north into the Twin Cities by around 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday and reach Duluth by around lunchtime.

On the map below, I like the looks of how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NAM 3 km model handles the precipitation shield as it works northward on Tuesday. It could be cold enough for a few wet snowflakes in the west and north.

NOAA NAM 3 km model
North American Mesoscale 3 km model between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

The heaviest rain zones on Election Day will favor southeastern Minnesota and Wisconsin along with parts of Iowa, Illinois and Michigan.

NOAA NAM 3 km model precipitation output
North American Mesoscale 3 km model precipitation output Tuesday
NOAA, via Pivotal Weather

High temperatures Tuesday will be mostly in the 40s across Minnesota with some 50s southeast.

Forecast high temperatures Tuesday
Forecast high temperatures Tuesday
NOAA

Drying out

Drier and sunnier weather returns starting Wednesday through Friday. Highs will gradually moderate back into the 50s statewide by Friday.

Forecast high temperatures Friday
Forecast high temperatures Friday
NOAA

NOAA’s outlooks still favor warmer-than-normal temperatures through November. It won’t be back into the 70s anytime soon, but right now the forecast maps don’t show any major cold snaps in the next seven to 10 days.

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

The normal high and low temperatures for the Twin Cities next week are 43 and 29 degrees.