Severe weather gone; cool, unsettled weekend coming
Thursday's severe weather faded away as evening gave way to night. It was a classic spring storm as a large synoptic low pressure system headed toward Minnesota.
It would have been a snow storm a couple months ago, but in May it is a scenario for strong and severe thunderstorms north of the warm front and in the warm sector along and ahead of the cold front.
Here's what forecasters were anticipating for Thursday evening when the center of low pressure was near Sioux Falls, South Dakota:
There were reports across southern Minnesota of tornado touchdowns near St. James, Lake Crystal and Gaylord as well as wind and hail damage. For more about this storm, read MPR News meteorologist Paul Huttner's excellent discussion and check out the display of storm reports from the National Weather Service.
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By later in the warm season, jet streams and cold air masses retreat into Canada and cannot support these low pressure systems. So summertime severe weather more often forms along boundaries lingering from previous weather in response to significant instability and daytime heating.
Today we will be on the chilly backside of that low. This morning rain is falling in parts of northwestern Minnesota from Fergus Falls to Thief River Falls, Rosseau and Bemidji. Areas of light rain will spread east across about the northern half of the state. Expect breezy, cool conditions with highs mainly in the 50s.
Saturday, the fishing opener will start out cool and dry, but some scattered showers and possibly isolated thunderstorms will pop up later in the day. Highs should be mainly in the 60s.
Mother's Day should bring highs in the 60s to around 70 degrees. There will be a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly in southern Minnesota. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale Forecast System model is forecasting rain mainly in the southeast corner of the state in the afternoon and evening.
Any severe weather on Sunday or Sunday night should stay southeast of Minnesota.
As I look further ahead, most of next week looks cool and unsettled.