A Friday sprinkle chance; periods of rain Saturday and Saturday night
Happy Friday the 13th!
You'll be happy to know that there isn't anything scary in our forecast.
October changes
October is a big transition month in Minnesota.
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The sun angle is lowering each day, and our hours of daylight shorten.
In the Twin Cities metro area, our average high temperature starts the month at 65 degrees, and drops to 51 degrees by October 31.
Here are the daily averages and extremes of temperature and precipitation for October in the Twin Cities, courtesy of the Minnesota State Climatology Office:
Of course, the biggest daily October snowfall in Twin Cities history was on Halloween in 1991, with 8.2 inches.
The snow continued into early November of 1991, setting Twin Cities records for 24 hour snowfall (21 inches) and total snowfall from a snowstorm (28.4 inches):
In case you're wondering, our Twin Cities average high temperature drops from 50 degrees on November 1 to 33 degrees on November 30.
Cool weekend
High temps are expected to be in the 50s over most of Minnesota this Friday afternoon, with some lower 60s possible in the southeast.
Twin Cities metro area highs will be around 60, which is our average high temp for this date.
On Saturday, most of Minnesota will see highs in the 50s:
Sunday will feature mostly 50s, with highs in the upper 40s in about the northern third of our favorite state:
Twin Cities metro area highs return to the 60s next week, possibly reaching the upper 60s next Wednesday and Thursday.
Rain chances
A few scattered sprinkles are possible in southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area this Friday, but most of us won't see any rain.
Rain is expected to spread across most of Minnesota Saturday afternoon, and periods of rain are likely Saturday evening and overnight Saturday night.
The rain could be mixed with some snowflakes over about the northern third of Minnesota late Saturday night into very early Sunday morning.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday afternoon through early Sunday morning:
The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of rain or snow.
The occasional bits of blue indicate where the precipitation could be snow or a rain/snow mix.
Drought update
The latest update from U.S. Drought Monitor shows that the most serious drought conditions in the United States are in Montana and parts of western South Dakota:
Most of Minnesota is not in drought, but parts of Koochiching county in north-central Minnesota are in moderate drought, according to U.S. Drought Monitor:
The yellow shaded areas in northern Minnesota and far southeastern Minnesota are abnormally dry, but not in drought, according to U.S. Drought Monitor.
Fall colors
There will be some gorgeous fall colors this weekend in parts of Minnesota, including many spots in the Twin Cities metro area.
Here’s the most recent fall color report from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:
All deciduous trees are included in the fall color report, not just maples.
A Wisconsin fall color report is also available.
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., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.