70s and some 80s this weekend, Monday rain

My wife Deb and I enjoyed dinner out on the front porch Friday evening. The weather was great, and Deb mentioned that she really likes outdoor dining this time of year because there are no mosquitoes!

I would bet that the frosty temps of last Saturday and the dry weather of the past few days will delay our mosquito season a bit more. I don't think anyone will complain about that!

Shooting for 80 

A high pressure system will remain to our southeast through most of the weekend:

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rt521allfronts

The result will be southerly breezes and warm temperatures. Western Minnesota could see scattered showers and thunderstorms Sunday night.

Highs will be mostly in the 70s today. A few spots, including the Twin Cities, could touch 80:

rt521h4

Highs on Sunday will be similar to Saturday, maybe a couple of degrees warmer in spots:

rt522h4

With stronger southerly winds, Sunday temps in areas close to Lake Superior will be a few degrees cooler than Saturday.

Rain on Monday

Forecast models show a low pressure system spreading showers and thunderstorms over Minnesota on Monday:

rt523nam
National weather Service/North American Mesoscale Forecast System

A strong or severe thunderstorm will be possible Monday afternoon and Monday night.

The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service shows a marginal risk of severe weather for Minnesota and western Wisconsin Monday and Monday night:

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The Storm Prediction Center/National Weather Service

Foss Lake Wildfire

Firefighting efforts will continue today on the wildfire near Foss Lake in the Superior National Forest. The fire originated on Thursday about 10 miles west of Ely, Minnesota:

rt520fossmap

The wildfire is burning in part of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), and the Crab Lake entry point to the BWCAW has been closed.

The U.S. Forest Service posted this wildfire update Friday evening:

Updates on the wildfire can be found here.

Foss Lake Wildfire update

The U.S. Forest Service posted this wildfire update today:

Updates on the wildfire can be found here.

Update for Red Flag Warning

The Duluth office of the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for much of north-central and northeastern Minnesota, valid until 8pm Saturday:

rt321red
NWS Duluth

Here are some details of the red flag warning:

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN

1016 AM CDT SAT MAY 21 2016

..ANOTHER VERY DRY AND WARM DAY ACROSS NORTHERN MINNESOTA...

.THE VERY DRY AIRMASS WHICH HAS BEEN ACROSS NORTHERN MINNESOTA FOR

THE PAST FEW DAYS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE WEATHER THROUGH

SUNDAY. SKIES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN MAINLY SUNNY ACROSS THE

MAJORITY OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA INCLUDING THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL

FOREST...THE ENTIRE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA...VOYAGEURS

NATIONAL PARK...LAKE WINNIBIGOSHISH AREA...AND THE POKEGAMA LAKE

AREA. RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES ARE EXPECTED TO DIP TO 15 TO 20

PERCENT THIS AFTERNOON. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF A

SHOWER...POSSIBLY AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM MAINLY EAST OF A SEA

GULL LAKE TO LUTSEN LINE AFTER 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON.

THE SAME DRY CONDITIONS WILL BE LIKELY TO OCCUR SUNDAY.

MNZ010>012-018-019-026-035-037-220100-

/O.NEW.KDLH.FW.W.0006.160521T1516Z-160522T0100Z/

KOOCHICHING-NORTH ST. LOUIS-NORTHERN COOK/NORTHERN LAKE-

NORTH ITASCA-CENTRAL ST. LOUIS-SOUTH ITASCA-NORTHERN AITKIN-

CARLTON/SOUTH ST. LOUIS-

1016 AM CDT SAT MAY 21 2016

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR VERY

DRY CONDITIONS IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA INCLUDING MUCH OF THE

SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DULUTH HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG

WARNING FOR VERY DRY CONDITIONS...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM

CDT THIS EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA...IN MINNESOTA...FIRE WEATHER ZONES 010...011...

012...018...019...026...035 AND 037.

* WINDS...SOUTHWEST 5 TO 10 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 16 PERCENT.

* TEMPERATURES...IN THE LOWER 70S.

* IMPACTS...ANY FIRES THAT DEVELOP WILL LIKELY SPREAD RAPIDLY.

OUTDOOR BURNING IS NOT RECOMMENDED.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS

ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW....OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF

STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES CAN

CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates weekend mornings at 7:35 a.m. on Minnesota Public Radio.