A summery, breezy Saturday; thunderstorm chance northern Minn. Saturday night

Today's another keeper.

Most Minnesotans will have great weather this Saturday, but it'll be steamy in the northwest.

Temperature trends

Saturday afternoon highs should reach the 80s in most of Minnesota, with a few 70s along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Parts of northwestern Minnesota are expected to reach the lower 90s this afternoon, with dew points popping into the lower 70s.

Five northwestern Minnesota counties are in a heat advisory from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. today, because their heat index could be in the 100-105 degree range:

Eastern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, will have much lower dew points than northwestern Minnesota Saturday afternoon.

Highs in the 80s are expected in almost all of Minnesota on Sunday:

A few spots in the south, even in the Twin Cities metro area, could touch 90 degrees.

Sunday will be more humid than Saturday in the metro area, with dew points in the mid and upper 60s.

Twin Cities highs are projected to be in the upper 80s Monday, followed by upper 80s to around 90 next Tuesday and Wednesday. The outlook for late next week and the following weekend is for warmer than normal temps.

Thunderstorm chances

• There’s a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms in northern Minnesota this Saturday night and Sunday.

• Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms Sunday night and early on Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Saturday evening through Monday morning:

It will probably rain in some areas that look dry in the loop, but the loop shows the general rain pattern within the NAM model.

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.

Updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and updates are also posted on the MPR News live weather blog.

Severe weather risk

The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service indicates a slight risk of severe weather this evening and overnight tonight in northwestern Minnesota and part of north-central Minnesota:

Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible:

As always, it's good to know what county you're in if you are traveling.

Any NWS warnings will list the counties involved in the warnings.

Flooding update

Flood warnings continue in parts of southern Minnesota.

Here are a few flood warning details, from the Twin Cities office of the NWS:

Flood Warning

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

245 PM CDT FRI JUL 6 2018

MNC015-127-072100-

/O.EXT.KMPX.FA.W.0009.000000T0000Z-180707T2100Z/

/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

Redwood MN-Brown MN-

245 PM CDT FRI JUL 6 2018

The National Weather Service in The Twin Cities has extended the

* Flood Warning for...

Southern Redwood County in southwestern Minnesota...

Southwestern Brown County in south central Minnesota...

* Until 400 PM CDT Saturday.

* At 244 PM CDT, local law enforcement and river gauge readings

indicate flooding continuing along the Cottonwood River. The river

has crested, but it will take a few days for the water to

recede.

* Some locations that will experience flooding include...

Sleepy Eye, Springfield, Walnut Grove, Lamberton, Sanborn, Lucan,

Clements, Revere, Wanda and Cobden.

241 PM CDT FRI JUL 6 2018

The National Weather Service in The Twin Cities has extended the

* Flood Warning for...

West central Redwood County in southwestern Minnesota...

* Until 415 PM CDT Saturday.

* At 238 PM CDT, local law enforcement and river gauge readings

indicate flooding continuing along the Redwood River. The river

has crested, but it will take a few days for the water to recede.

* Some locations that will experience flooding include...

Vesta and Milroy.

Flood Statement

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

829 PM CDT Fri Jul 6 2018

...The flood warning continues for the following rivers in

Minnesota...

Cottonwood River at New Ulm affecting Brown County

Minnesota River at Mankato affecting Blue Earth and Nicollet

Counties

Minnesota River at Henderson MN19 affecting Le Sueur...Scott and

Sibley Counties

Redwood River near Redwood Falls affecting Redwood County

...The flood warning continues for the following rivers in

Minnesota..

Minnesota River near Jordan affecting Carver and Scott Counties

Minnesota River at Savage affecting Dakota...Hennepin and Scott

Counties

.Overview...

This river forecast is based on preciptation over the past 24 hours

and forecast precipitation over the next 24 hours. Additional rainfall

could cause river levels to rise higher than predicted. The

National Weather Service will monitor this situation and

issue followup statements as conditions or forecasts change.

You can find graphical NWS updates on river levels for many spots around Minnesota throughout the day and night.

If the location of interest is not listed there, try the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service page and click on a location for river level details and forecasts.

The latest hydrograph for the Minnesota River at Jordan shows that it will reach moderate flood stage on Tuesday:

The forecast is for a peak level of 28.3 feet at Jordan early on Wednesday.

The AHPS page lists these details for various river levels at Jordan:

• 29.5 Highway 41 at Chaska may close when the river reaches this stage.

• 26.7 The bridge at Scott County Road 9 and Carver County Road 11/Jonathan Carver Parkway will be closed.

• 25 Low lying areas and some roads along the river begin to flood and private sanitary sewers may experience problems.

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.