Mild, then cooler; weekend shower possibilities

We topped out at 71 degrees Thursday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, which was our warmest high temp since May 17.

Today will be even warmer, and 70s are expected over most of Minnesota.

Some spots in northeastern Minnesota will see highs in the 60s, especially near Lake Superior.

Weekend temps

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Most of Minnesota will have highs in the lower 70s on Saturday:

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On Sunday, 60s are expected over much of Minnesota:

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Southwestern Minnesota will see some lower 70s, and we could touch 70 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area on Sunday.

Memorial Day will be cool, with highs in the 50s north and 60s central and south:

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The Twin Cities metro area will see highs in the 60s Tuesday, around 70 Wednesday and in the lower 70s on Thursday.

Rain chances

A weak cold front wiggles through Minnesota today, and it could spawn some scattered showers and even an isolated thunderstorm later Friday afternoon or Friday evening.

Minnesota could also see some scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms Saturday afternoon and Saturday night.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential rain pattern:

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NOAA NAM simulated radar from Saturday through saturday night, via tropicaltidbits

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the radar signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of rainfall.

Scattered showers and an isolated thunderstorm are also possible Sunday afternoon and Sunday night.

On Memorial Day, it looks like all of Minnesota will see some showers at times.

Check back for updates and have a great holiday weekend!

GOES-16 update

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NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had this announcement Thursday:

GOES-16, the most advanced weather satellite NOAA has ever developed, will be moved to the GOES-East position at 75 degrees west longitude, once it is declared operational in November.

More details, from NOAA:

After GOES-16 was launched on November 19, the satellite's instruments and the data they produce have undergone an extensive engineering checkout and instrument validation period. Once GOES-16 reaches its East location, the current GOES-East satellite (GOES-13) will be placed into orbital storage along with GOES-14 and remain available if needed. From its perch 22,300 miles over the Equator, GOES-16 will be able to see the entire United States.

I'm sure that we will see more GOES-16 details in the coming months.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m. and 9:35 a.m. each Saturday and Sunday.