Brilliant blue skies and mild afternoon temps this Sunday

Fall color update for leaf-peepers

After a chilly start Sunday morning, our temps will recover nicely.

Our average Twin Cities high temp on Oct. 17 is 58 degrees. We’re headed toward highs in the upper 60s in the metro area Sunday afternoon.

Highs in the 60s are expected this Sunday in most areas, with some lower 70s in southwestern Minnesota:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

It won’t be as breezy as yesterday, with Sunday afternoon gusts in the 10-16 mph range:

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Sunday 1p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Forecast wind gusts are in knots, with 10 knots equal to 11.5 mph.

Fall color update

The latest fall color report from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shows colors past peak in the dark-red shaded areas of northern and central Minnesota:

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Fall colors on Saturday
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

The percentage of changeover to fall colors is between 75% and 100% in the medium-red shaded areas, including parts of the west metro.

Keep in mind that all deciduous trees are included in the fall color report, not just maples.

Wisconsin fall color info can be found here.

Update

This Updraft blog will be updated around 10:15 a.m. with a look at the week ahead.

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.