Warmer today, with smoke-filtered sunshine; 70s this weekend
We're seeing some red-orange hues in the hazy sky Thursday morning. The colorful display is being caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires:
The loop illustrates the forecast movement of the smoke particles from today through Friday morning.
You can check here for the latest air quality report from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Temperature trends
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Highs could reach the lower 80s across much of Minnesota Thursday afternoon, with 70s in northeastern Minnesota and a few 60s near Lake Superior.
Friday highs will be well into the 80s in many areas, with 70s to the north:
Our average high temperature is 74 degrees this time of year in the Twin Cities metro area.
Most of us will see highs in the 70s Saturday, with some 60s in northern Minnesota:
Similar highs are on tap for Sunday:
Rain chances
Parts of central and northeastern Minnesota plus northwestern Wisconsin could see a shower/isolated thunderstorm Thursday afternoon and evening. There could also be a stray shower/thunderstorm in parts of southwestern Minnesota Thursday evening.
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.
A cold front sags slowly through Minnesota Friday afternoon and Friday night, triggering some scattered showers and thunderstorms. Our rain chance in the Twin Cities will probably hold off until Friday evening. That rain chance will continue into early Saturday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Friday afternoon through Saturday morning:
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. It will rain in some areas that look dry in the NAM loop, but the loop illustrates the general rain pattern.
Rivers are rising
Recent rainy weather has caused river levels to rise again across much of southern Minnesota, and rivers have reached flood stage at many locations.
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 Thursday morning hydrograph for the Mississippi River at St. Paul:
You can see that the Mississippi River is at moderate flood stage Thursday morning at the St. Paul location. It’s expected to rise slightly in the next 24 hours or so.
The lower portions of many trees on the eastern side of Raspberry Island were underwater Thursday morning:
There are flood warnings along some 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 the National Weather Service map looked Thursday morning:
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.
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.