Quiet fall weather through Saturday; sogginess starts Sunday
This is the time of year when we meteorologists often can put our feet up and relax a bit, unless one works for the National Hurricane Center.
Other than threatening hurricanes or the usual early-season mountain snows, most of the country tends to experience lovely, non-threatening weather during September and October.
Thursday will be a fine example of that pattern nationally. Snow will accumulate on some of the mountains of Colorado including Pike's Peak (do take the cog railway up the mountain if you have the opportunity) and some flash flooding is possible in portions of southern Texas.
That's about it as tropical storm warnings for Maria are all offshore now.
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Hurricane update
Here is where the lingering Atlantic tropical storms are this morning:
As noted, Maria has now weakened to being a tropical storm. It is poised to exit eastward shortly.
Hurricane Lee remains a powerful Category 2 storm. But it, too, is set to weaken and streak away.
Our benign weather
Today will begin with a fair amount of sun. Then a cold front from the northwest will spread a broken layer of clouds southeastward across the state as we go through the day.
Some scattered showers are likely to break out, mainly this afternoon and evening, from northeastern Minnesota and then southeastward into Wisconsin.
The Twin Cities metro area might be on the southern edge of these showers and pick up a few late-afternoon sprinkles.
High temperatures in the state Thursday should range from around 60 under the clouds in Ely and International Falls to the low 70s in the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota. The normal high in the Twin Cities today is 66, so we will be treated to a few bonus degrees.
We will be on the back side of that cold front on Friday. That means mostly sunny skies and cooler temperatures. Expect highs tomorrow from the mid 50s in the north to the mid 60s from the Twin Cities to southern Minnesota.
Weekend
Saturday will be bright and shiny, the better day of the weekend. Look for sunshine and seasonable temperatures.
Change will come our way beginning on Sunday, Oct. 1. Areas of rain are likely to cross the state from west to east but models disagree on how quickly the wetness will progress.
There is a good chance that the rain will not reach the metro area until after the Twin Cities Marathon Sunday morning, but I would check future forecasts if I were planning to participate.
More wetness next week
It looks as though periods of rain will linger into Monday. After that, the weather could remain unsettled but the pattern looks uncertain. Future forecasts can thrash out those details.