Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Rivers slowly receding; a cool start to July

Clusters of thunderstorms roamed the state on Saturday with rainfall amounts of over 2 inches in  portions of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Amounts were lighter in the southwest metro, where my rain gauge collected less than a half inch on Saturday afternoon in Eden Prairie.

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Rainfall 7 a.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday. Image:Midwest Regional Climate Center

There is some positive news on the state of the main stem rivers. The weekend rainfall is not expected to bring river levels back up to levels experienced at the end of last week.

Here are a couple of hydrographs which track  the recession of water levels.

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Mississippi River as measured at St. Paul. Image:NOAA
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Minnesota river stage for Savage. Image:NOAA
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St. Croix river stage at Stillwater. Image:NOAA

Yesterday's anticipated severe weather outbreak stayed mostly south of Minnesota.  Here is a visible satellite image of the thunderstorms erupting late yesterday afternoon.

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Image:NOAA/College of DuPage

Severe storms are expected to fire up again today and clobber parts of Iowa, Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

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A cool front is tracking south and will arrive with brisk northwest winds, dropping the temperatures well below normal as we begin the month of July.

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Surface winds at 4 p.m. CDT Monday. Image:National Weather Service

High temperatures on Tuesday are likely to be well below normal.

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Highs on Tuesday. Image:National Weather Service

Temperatures begin to warm later in the week.  At this time, it appears the chances for rain increase as we move through Independence Day.

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