Free sauna Saturday; Sunday storm potential
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Get ready for a hot, windy Saturday and a potentially stormy Sunday.
Steamy to stormy
The steamiest air mass of the year so far is blowing north into Minnesota. Temperatures and dew points soar Saturday. Highs in the 90s will be common in the southern half of Minnesota. Factor in tropical level dew points in the 70s, and it feels close to 100 degrees Saturday afternoon.
Hottest day of 2017 so far
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Saturday will likely produce the hottest temperatures so far this year for many Minnesota towns. I still think we'll stop short of 100 in the Twin Cities, probably peaking between 92 and 96 degrees Saturday afternoon. That should be plenty to produce the hottest day of 2017 so far, and our 4th day at or above 90 degrees this year.
Steamy to stormy
Heat index values approach 100 degrees Saturday afternoon. Storm chances increase with a frontal boundary Saturday night and especially Sunday.
Saturday night cool front
Saturday will be interesting. You'll notice the stifling heat during the afternoon hours. By evening, a fairly strong frontal boundary pushes southeast. The frontal zone bisects the Twin Cities Saturday evening. The northwest half of the Twin Cities should notice a significant drop in temperature and humidity. Dew points in the 70s may linger in the south and east metro. It's going to feel a lot more comfortable Saturday night in Rogers than Red Wing.
Watch NOAA's NAM 3 km resolution model dew point analysis, Plume of 70+ degree dew points pools Saturday, then the frontal zone pushes south through Minnesota into the Twin Cities by Saturday evening.
Stormy Sunday?
The front stalls south of the Twin Cities Sunday morning. It then pushes back north as a warm front. Showers and T-Storms will likely fire along the front. There could be locally heavy storms training over the same areas. That may produce some locally heavy rainfall totals and the potential for severe weather Sunday.
The Weather Lab landscape could use the rain.
As always, summertime convection is notoriously fickle in location and coverage. Stay tuned for updates on Sunday's eventual storm coverage and intensity.