Weekend Forecast: Mostly nice…a little rain & thunder
This weekend should have a little something for everyone. A little sun, a little heat, a few showers and some thunder.
A fairly typical July weather pattern is setting up this weekend. Saturday will be the hotter more humid day. Look for plenty of increasingly hazy sun in southern Minnesota, with the best chance of scattered thunderstorms roaming the northern half of the state.
A cool front will slide slowly through northern Minnesota Saturday, and ease into the metro and southern Minnesota early Sunday. Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms with the front to light up radars as they pass through.
Temperatures will be in the 70s and 80s north and central, but may push 90 in southern Minnesota Saturday. Humidity will be on the rise as dew points climb back through the 60s.
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A few of the storms could reach severe threshold this weekend, but if the timing works out right the storms will come through the highly populated metro overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. If that timing holds, the storms MAY have a litte less oomph as they come through the metro, before regenerating in southeast Minnesota Sunday afternoon.
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has placed a slight risk for severe storms as the front moves through this weekend.
A slight risk for severe storms favors western and northern Minnesota Saturday.
Drought eases except in Arrowhead:
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows the effects of recent rains in much of Minnesota. The percentage of area in Minnesota classified in drought status has dropped from 39.2% to 21.9% over the past 3 months.
Drought is still hanging on in Minnesota's Arrowhead region.
Rio Grande flood:
Tropical Depression "Two" has dumped more heavy rain on the Rio Grande watershed along the Texas Mexico border. Coming on the heels of Hurricane Alex, some areas have recieved as much as 20" of rainfall in the past two weeks. Severe flooding is occurring along both the Mexico and U.S. sides of the river.
The Rio Grande was only 3 feet deep a few weeks ago, and is now running 40 feet deep in some areas. Thsi is the highest level in 45 years, and the 3rd highest crest on the Rio Grande in history.
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