Timing and location, sorting out the chance for showers

From the IR satellite image this morning you can see the general quite and rather comfortable temperatures depicted across the northern tier of the continental USA. Meanwhile a couple of clusters of thunderstorms were evident from the Texas panhandle to northern Mississippi (shown by the color red for colder cloud tops).

Our next rain producer is in the process of taking shape in Montana. The evolution of the mid level spin in the atmosphere and its track eastward will determine the timing and location of the most significant rainfall in the upper Midwest.

In candor, I spied some spotty showers on radar yesterday late afternoon in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. Most of Minnesota enjoyed delightful temperatures and plentiful sunshine. We sometimes refer to these random, not well forecast showers as rogue showers.

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One more day of sunshine and comfortable temperatures is on tap for your Thursday. Clouds thichen west to east later today and overnight. The most likely region of showers during the darkness hours is over western Minnesota, where a half inch of rain may accumulate in a few places.

Here's a graphic from the GFS of the model's output of rainfall accumulation for Friday evening. The North American Model output (not shown) is not as generous with the rain in southeast Minnesota, where the GFS prints out over an inch near the Iowa border.

By profession, meteorologists are expected to parse out the model information and make a forecast. So there will be differing forecasts on the timing and probability of wetness in your location in the next 48 hours. My best guess is the rain chances are highest in Minnesota from midnight tonight to daybreak on Saturday.

Clouds on Friday may hold maximum temperatures in the 70s over much of the region. Central and northern Minnesota's Lake Country should see at least partial sunshine Saturday afternoon. Sunshine should dominate statewide on Sunday with a continuation of temperatures near or slightly below normal.

As a broad snapshot of national rainfall potential in the next seventy-two hours, here's the forecast of rain accumulation through Friday night from NOAA meteorologist. Of interest here is a relative minimum total expected where the GFS indicates an inch of rain in northeast Iowa.

Hope your home gardens are doing well.

CE