Severe thunderstorm watch central and northeastern Minn. until 1 a.m. Friday

Best weekend chance of t-storms will be on Saturday

Updated at 8 p.m. Thursday

Thunderstorms and severe weather possible

The Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm watch valid until 1 a.m. Friday for much of Central Minnesota and a portion of northern Minnesota:

The Storm Prediction Center added northeastern Minnesota to the severe thunderstorm watch, which now includes central and northeastern Minnesota until 1 a.m. Friday:

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Severe thunderstorm watch (outlined in blue) until 1 a .m. Friday
NWS Storm Prediction Center

Here are details of the original severe thunderstorm watch:

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 406 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 520 PM CDT Thu Jun 23 2022 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of Central and west-central Minnesota Northeastern South Dakota * Effective this Thursday afternoon and Friday morning from 520 PM until 100 AM CDT. * Primary threats include... Scattered damaging winds and isolated significant gusts to 75 mph possible Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2 inches in diameter possible SUMMARY...Several thunderstorms are forming along and south of a slow-moving to stationary front over parts of the watch area, and additional development/merger of convection is possible through the evening, with potential for some localized cold-pool-driven clustering. Severe gusts and sporadic large hail are the main threats. The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 50 statute miles either side of a line from 25 miles north northwest of Watertown SD to 30 miles east southeast of Brainerd MN. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce tornadoes. && OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 405... AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 2 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 65 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 550. Mean storm motion vector 28020.

Areas of thunderstorms are also possible elsewhere in Minnesota (including the Twin Cities metro area) plus western Wisconsin Thursday evening and overnight Thursday night.

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

A few scattered thunderstorms are also possible early Friday morning, then late Friday afternoon and Friday evening.

Temperature trends

Friday highs will reach the lower 90s in much of west-central and southern Minnesota, with mainly 80s elsewhere:

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Friday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Friday dew points will be in the sticky 60s:

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

Saturday highs will be in the 80s in central and southern Minnesota, with 70s to the north:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Sunday highs will be mainly in the 70s, with 60s in the far north:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Weekend rain?

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible Friday night and Saturday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern from 9 p.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Saturday:

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Simulated radar 9 p.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Saturday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Check forecast updates.

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.