Southern Minn. rain today, likely in metro area tonight

A major spring storm has been swirling well to our south. Thunderstorms have been widespread from Texas to Missouri overnight.

Mar 29 - ltng
Lightning located thunderstorms early this morning. NOAA/Vaisala Corp.

The surface swirl Wednesday morning is centered over the Texas panhandle and is pumping moisture northward toward Minnesota as it begins to plod toward the mid-Atlantic states. Severe storms are likely to develop Wednesday from eastern Texas and Louisiana to Arkansas and Missouri.

Mar 29 - Wed fcst map
Forecast surface weather map for today. NOAA Weather Prediction Center

This type of storm in March often features a band of wet snow across its northern edge. This time, however, temperatures should be warm enough that most of the precipitation across Minnesota will fall as rain.

Weather radar has been tracking areas of rain and thunderstorms across Iowa.

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DSM radar
Weather radar image from Des Moines shortly before 8 a.m.today. Des Moines National Weather Service

Rain will spread northeast across southern Minnesota Wednesday. How far north it will advance before stalling remains a bit of a question, but forecast models have indicated that light rain is likely to reach the Twin Cities area by late afternoon or early evening. Areas north of the metro area should get very little, if any, rain.

Wednesday will be cooler than yesterday when the Twin Cities hit 64 degrees. High temperatures this afternoon will be in the 50s for most of the state but cooler 40s near Lake Superior and in the rainy south. The Twin Cities should reach about 53 degrees with a wind from the east about 10 mph.

Tonight and Thursday

Periods of rain will continue across mainly southern Minnesota Wednesday night and Thursday. The Twin Cities metro area should remain near the north end of the precipitation. As temperatures cool a bit tonight, rain will become mixed with and possibly change to wet snow in portions of central Wisconsin and east to Green Bay.

Parts of southeastern Minnesota could pick up more than one quarter of an inch of rain by the time it tapers off tomorrow. Here is a look at forecast amounts of rainfall for our region, courtesy of the Twin Cities National Weather Service.

Mar 29 - today's wx story
We will be very close to the north edge of this large storm.

Temperatures on the back side of this storm will be cooler tomorrow.

Friday and the weekend

By Friday, a big, blue H of high pressure should settle on Minnesota and bring us abundant sunshine.

Mar 29 - Friday fcst map
Surface weather forecast map for Friday. NOAA Weather Prediction Center

Expect fair weather and a warming trend to begin Friday and continue through the weekend as we make our way into April. By Sunday, we should be enjoying high temperatures from the mid 50s to the low 60s.