A beautiful Thursday; thunder chances overnight and Friday
If you like low humidity and high temps in the 70s, you'll like our Thursday afternoon weather. I'll bet that the Minnesota State Fair puts up some great attendance numbers!
Temperature trends
Highs will reach the lower 80s in far southern Minnesota on Friday, with 70s in the central and north. The Twin Cities metro area could touch 80 Friday afternoon, with dew points rising through the 60s.
Lower 80s are expected in the south on Saturday, as September begins:
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70s will be common statewide on Sunday:
Labor Day highs will feature a few lower 80s in the south:
Our average high temp is 77 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area during the first few days of September.
Thunder chances
Western Minnesota could see a few scattered showers and thunderstorms Thursday evening, then the activity is expected to expand and spread eastward. An isolated strong to severe thunderstorm will be possible in about the southern half of Minnesota overnight as the thunderstorms move through.
Some showers and thunderstorms are expected in parts of eastern Minnesota early Friday morning, and northern Minnesota could see some activity in the afternoon. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible in Minnesota Friday night.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Thursday evening through Friday evening:
The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service shows a slight risk of severe weather for roughly the southern half of Minnesota Friday and Friday night:
Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible:
Updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and updates are also posted on the MPR News live weather blog.
Saturday looks quiet across most of Minnesota, with an early morning shower or thunderstorm chance in the southeast.
At this point, the models show a chance of a scattered showers and thunderstorms in mainly southern Minnesota Sunday afternoon and evening. The bulk of Labor Day is expected to be dry, but check forecast updates as we get closer to Monday.
Interesting record
Meteorological summer has been warmer than normal in the Twin Cities and much of Minnesota.
Many people were probably skeptical about summer warmth when they were shoveling snow in the middle of April!
We set an interesting Twin Cities weather record this week:
We completed a run of 107 days with a high temperature of 70 or warmer in the Twin Cities.
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.