Showers at times, with a thunder chance; a nicer Saturday

Thunderstorms grew rapidly over about the southern half of Minnesota late Thursday afternoon.

The explosive growth of the thunderstorms is shown by this satellite loop, which covers 2:37 p.m. to 6:32 p.m. Thursday:

rt712sat
NOAA Thursday afternoon (2:27-6:27 p.m.) satellite loop, via College of DuPage

Heavy rains fell in many spots, including portions of the Twin Cities metro area.

There were some reports of trees downed by Thursday's storms:

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Rainfall

The National Weather Service map of 24-hour rainfall totals (ending at 7 a.m. today) shows 2- to 4-inch totals in parts of southern and central Minnesota:

rt0713rain2
NOAA/NWS 24 hour rainfall ending at 7 a.m. July 13

The heavy rain that fell in parts of northern Minnesota before 7 a.m. Thursday is not included in the rainfall map.

The 2.16 inches of rain at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Thursday brings our July total to 3.98 inches. Our official Twin Cities July tally is now 2.44 inches above normal for this point in the month:

rt0713july
NWS data for MSP airport

Our average temp for the month is running 3.6 degrees warmer than normal.

Thursday was our fourth day with a high of 90 degrees or warmer this July, bringing our total to thirteen days of 90 or warmer this year.

Flooding update

The Twin Cities office of the NWS has flood warnings shaded green on their main page:

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NWS Twin Cities

You can click on the map on the NWS site to get warning details.

A flood warning has been issued for the Mississippi river at Aitkin, Minn.:

FLOOD STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN

912 AM CDT Fri Jul 13 2018

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

Minnesota...

Mississippi River At Aitkin affecting Aitkin and Crow Wing Counties

MNC001-035-141411-

/O.EXT.KDLH.FL.W.0003.180714T1200Z-180717T0600Z/

/ATKM5.1.ER.180714T1200Z.180715T1200Z.180716T1800Z.NO/

912 AM CDT Fri Jul 13 2018

...Flood Warning now in effect until late Monday night...The Flood

Warning continues for

The Mississippi River At Aitkin.

* At 8:30 AM Friday the stage was 12.2 feet.

* Flood stage is 13.0 feet.

* Minor flooding is forecast.

* Forecast...Rise above flood stage by tomorrow morning and continue

to rise to near 13.5 feet by Sunday morning.the river will fall

below flood stage by Monday early afternoon.

* At 13.0 feet...The boat ramp at Aitkin city park floods. A few

driveways become covered with water in the Ceadarbrook area. Minor

flooding of farmland occurs in the Cedarbrook community..

This crest compares to a previous crest of 13.9 feet on May 3 2008.

Here's a summary of flood warnings:

Flood Statement

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

815 PM CDT Thu Jul 12 2018

...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

Redwood River near Redwood Falls affecting Redwood County

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

Minnesota..

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

Sibley 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.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Do not drive cars through flooded areas. Turn Around...Don`t Drown.

Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio or your local radio or TV station

for the latest information concerning this flood event.

You can also 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.

Rain and thunder chances

Here's a summary of rain chances:

  • Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area will see periods of rain this Friday morning and early afternoon. An isolated thunderstorm is also possible.

  • Parts of southeastern Minnesota could see a few scattered showers/isolated thunderstorm into late afternoon.

  • Saturday will be mostly rain-free, but an isolated shower/thunderstorm is possible in the south late Saturday.

  • Minnesota could see some scattered showers/isolated thunderstorm Sunday afternoon and evening

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

Temperature trends 

Minnesota will have highs in the 80s this Friday afternoon.

We'll also see highs in the 80s on Saturday:

rt0714h

The northwest will top out in the 70s on Sunday, with 80s elsewhere:

rt0715h

Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to be in the lower 80s Monday through Friday of next week.

Dew points will return to the comfortable 50s on Monday.

The cooler and drier air will let us give our air conditioners a bit of a rest!

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.