Breezy and cool Wednesday; very nice Thursday

Sometimes a satellite loop is impressive.

It's easy to spot the low-pressure system that was spinning over North Dakota this afternoon:

rt531sat2
NOAA via College of DuPage

A front extended southeastward from the low, and it helped ignite afternoon thunderstorms over southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

As the low-pressure system moves eastward tonight and Wednesday, it will spread showers across northern Minnesota.

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Here is the forecast rainfall pattern, for Tuesday afternoon through Thursday, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM):

rt531rad
NOAA/NAM data, via College of DuPage

You can see the Wednesday rain showers over northern Minnesota. Central and southern Minnesota could see an isolated shower.

Thursday will be dry, as a high pressure system settles in over Minnesota.

Cool Wednesday, then a rebound

Wednesday will be breezy with high temps a few degrees below normal:

rt61h5

Highs will be mainly in the 60s over northern and central Minnesota, with some spots in the south touching 70.

Temperatures rebound on Thursday, with mostly 70s:

rt62h

Some spots in the north will top out in the 60s.

I wouldn't be surprised if parts of the Twin Cities metro area hit the mid 70s.

Rain on Saturday?

I'm hoping that the Global Forecast System model is wrong about the noon Saturday surface map:

rt64gfs
NOAA/Global Forecast System Model

It shows a low-pressure system over Wisconsin, with some showers rotating over Minnesota. That pattern would also give us a breezy and cool day.

Saturday is still several days down the road, so maybe the forecast maps will change.

June temperature outlook

May is coming to a close.

Our average temperature this month was more than 2 degrees above normal in the Twin Cities. This is our ninth consecutive month with above normal monthly temperatures!

That streak might end in June.

The Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service shows Minnesota with equal chances of above normal or below normal temperatures for the month of June:

rt531june
NWS Climate Prediction Center

A slight tendency for a cooler than normal June is indicated over far southwestern Minnesota.

In case you are wondering, our average high temperature in the Twin Cities rises from 74 degrees on June 1 to 83 degrees on June 30.

That's a nice trend!