Sunday AM shower chance; cool week ahead

It was a gorgeous Saturday in about the southern half of Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin. Many locations, including the Twin Cities metro area, saw highs in the lower 70s.

Temps will be a bit cooler on Sunday, and southern Minnesota could see a few showers.

Temperature trends

Sunday highs are expected to range from the upper 40s in far northern Minnesota to the 60s in the south:

Our average high is 66 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area this time of year.

Metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 60s Monday and Tuesday, followed by mid 50s Wednesday and Thursday and around 60 on Friday.

Rain chances

Scattered Saturday evening rain showers are expected to spread from northern Minnesota into central Minnesota overnight Sunday night. They could arrive in the Twin Cities metro area and west-central Wisconsin after midnight. The southern half of Minnesota, plus west-central Wisconsin, will have a chance of scattered Sunday morning showers. Scattered showers could linger into Sunday afternoon in southeastern Minnesota and parts of western 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.

Looking ahead, periods of rain are expected Wednesday into Thursday in much of the southern half of Minnesota, plus western Wisconsin. There could also be a few embedded thunderstorms.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern Wednesday through Thursday evening:

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the precipitation rate (mm per hour), not to the total amount of rain.

River levels

There are numerous flood warnings still in effect along rivers in Minnesota. You can get flood warning updates by clicking on any green-shaded location on the National Weather Service Twin Cities website.

Here's how their map looked Saturday evening:

The latest flood warnings for northwestern Minnesota can be found on the NWS Grand Forks, N.D., site.

You can click on any location on the NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service  (AHPS) site to get hydrographs of recent and forecast river levels. Some locations list levels in feet above sea level, others list levels in feet above a local reference point.

Here’s the Saturday evening hydrograph for the Mississippi River at St. Paul:

You can see that the river level at St. Paul is expected to fall below flood stage overnight Saturday night.

The lower portions of trees on the eastern side of Raspberry Island were still under water Saturday evening:

Projected river levels are updated on a regular basis, so check back to the AHPS site and the National Weather Service point forecasts for the latest info on the rivers near you.

If you’d like to scroll through hydrographs along a certain river in central or southern Minnesota, check here. Hydrographs for the Red River can be found here.

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.