Periods of rain and thunder on Sunday

Chilly Monday, then temps rebound

Our Juneteenth 2021 weather was beautiful.

The Saturday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 81 degrees, just a notch above our average Twin Cities June 19 high of 80 degrees. Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin enjoyed Saturday high temps in the 70s to around 80, along with comfortable dew points and plenty of sunshine.

I wish we could order up similar weather for Father’s Day, but that’s not in the cards. We even have some rain in the forecast.

Sunday temps and dew points

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Sunday highs will be mainly in the 60s to the north, with 70s in central and southern Minnesota:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Sunday dew points will be in the sticky 60s from the southern half of Minnesota into western Wisconsin:

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Sunday 1 p.m. forecast dew points
National Weather Service

Much-needed rain

It’s too bad that our first widespread rain in weeks will happen on Father’s Day. Far western Minnesota could see scattered showers and an isolated thunderstorm late Saturday evening. The rain chances spread eastward overnight Saturday night. Periods of rain are expected in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday and Sunday evening, with some embedded thunderstorms at times.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern from 4 a.m. Sunday through Sunday evening:

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NAM model simulated radar Sunday morning through Sunday evening
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid-Refresh (HRRR) model shows a similar rain pattern, with slightly different timing:

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HRRR model simulated radar Sunday morning through Sunday evening
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

This will be the most widespread rain that we have seen in a while. Many locations could pick up one-half inch or more of rain:

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Potential rain totals
National Weather Service

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio network, and you can see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Severe weather outlook

Some strong or severe thunderstorms are possible Sunday and Sunday evening. The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center shows a marginal risk of severe weather in portions of southern Minnesota, the Twin Cities metro area, and west-central and southwestern Wisconsin Sunday and Sunday night.

The marginal risk area is shaded dark green on the NWS graphic below:

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Sunday severe weather outlook
National Weather Service

Marginal risk means that an isolated severe thunderstorm is possible. Iowa and a sliver of far southern Minnesota have a bit higher chance of severe weather Sunday/Sunday evening. The severe weather outlook is updated several times each day by the Storm Prediction Center.

Chilly Monday, then temps rebound

Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have Monday highs in the 60s. That’s not a typo. The Twin Cities metro area could touch 70 on Monday. Metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 70s Tuesday and mid 80s on Wednesday. We could top out in the upper 80s Thursday and Friday.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.