A soggy weekend; breezy and colder
Many of us woke up to rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning. There'll be additional rounds of showers and thunderstorms today, tonight and Sunday.
Showers and thunderstorms
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Saturday morning through Sunday evening:
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.
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Weekend rainfall totals will tend to be highest in the east:
On Sunday, there could be some wet snowflakes between Hinckley and Duluth and into northwestern Wisconsin:
As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you’ll also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
Severe weather chances
The Storm Prediction Center of the NWS shows a slight risk of severe thunderstorms Saturday and Saturday night in parts of south-central and southeastern Minnesota.
Here is the NWS summary of the severe weather potential:
There is a marginal risk of severe weather in the remainder of the southern half of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, plus much of western Wisconsin.
Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible, while marginal risk indicates that an isolated severe thunderstorm is possible:
SPC will be updating their severe weather outlook around mid-morning.
Temperature trends
There is a downward trend in high temperatures this weekend.
A warm front moves through far southern Minnesota Saturday afternoon, and there could be some upper 70s in places like Fairmont and Albert Lea. It'll be much cooler elsewhere, and some places along the North Shore of Lake Superior could see highs in the upper 30s to lower 40s:
Twin Cities metro area highs could range from the lower 50s in the far north metro to lower 60s in the far south metro Saturday afternoon.
Sunday highs will be in the 40s across much of Minnesota, with 50s to the northwest and far southeast:
It'll also be windy, so a warm jacket will feel good.
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.