Weather column: The state of Minnesota picked up some much needed rain on Sunday and Monday. Parts of the region picked up more than 3 inches of rainfall on Sunday. Other areas didn’t pick up this kind of rainfall, but even the smaller amounts helped with the wildfire dangers and also helped clean up the atmosphere a bit from the smoke from the Canadian wildfires.
Drier and cooler weather returned by Monday night into Tuesday as high pressure settled in across the Upper Midwest. It felt a little bit like fall at times.
Expect a beautiful day on Wednesday for the midweek. Temperatures will be near “normal” for this time of the year with plenty of sunshine and fairly light winds.
We do have another round of rain possible later in the day on Thursday into Friday. The threat of severe weather at this stage looks marginal.
The computer models have differing opinions at this stage as to the rain and thunderstorm chances over the weekend. Right now it looks like we could see some rain and isolated thunderstorms for both Saturday and Sunday. It will be something that we will have to keep an eye on as we draw closer to the weekend.
Weather history: On this day in 1870, records show that “downpours across southern Minnesota produced 5 inches at Sibley and 3.49 inches at Fort Snelling.” In addition, reports at the time indicated that “much of the wheat crop was damaged.”
Weather fact: The National Weather Service defines a downpour as “heavy rainfall that accumulates at a rate of 3 tenths of an inch (0.3) or more per hour.”
Almanac:
Sunrise: 6:31 a.m.
Sunset: 8:17 p.m.
Normal High: 77
Normal Low: 56
MN AT A GLANCE:
Moorhead Low 54 High 79
Duluth Low 54 High 78
Central Minn. Low 55 High 80
Twin Cities Low 59 High 82
Rochester Low 56 High 79
Marshall Low 57 High 83
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. High 80 Low 59 Wind: W 10-15 mph Prec. None
High pressure will stay with us for Wednesday before another system approaches by late Thursday. This system could bring rain by late Thursday afternoon and evening. This will likely linger into Friday. Rain chances are still possible into the weekend. Temperatures should generally be in the lower 80s over the weekend.
Thursday: Partly cloudy, 20-percent chance of shower/
T-storms PM. High 82 Low 64 Wind: SW 10-20 mph Prec. Trace-.20”
Friday: Partly to mostly cloudy, 60-percent chance of showers/
T-storms. High 76 Low 63 Wind: SW 10-15 mph Prec. .10-.40”
Saturday: Partly cloudy, 30-
percent chance of showers/T-storms. High 80 Low 62 Wind: E/SE 5-10 mph Prec. Trace-.20”
Sunday: Partly cloudy, 30-
percent chance of showers/T-storms. High 81 Low 66 Wind: NE/E 10-15 mph Prec. Trace-.20”