Mild temps through Wednesday, then chilly air moves in
Fall color update for leaf-peepers
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the Twin Cities. I noticed pockets of great fall color during my afternoon walk along Mississippi River Boulevard in St. Paul.
The Sunday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 75 degrees, which is well above our average Oct. 2 high of 66. We have mild temps on tap for the next few days.
Temperature trends
Monday highs will reach the 70s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
A few spots in far southwestern Minnesota could touch 80. There’ll be some 60s up along the North Shore of Lake Superior.
High temps retreat slightly in northwestern Minnesota on Tuesday, but 70s will be common in the south:
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 70s on Monday and Tuesday, but a few spotty upper 70s are also possible. Metro area highs are forecast to reach the lower 70s Wednesday.
A cold front moves through Wednesday night, so Thursday’s high temp could be in the upper 50s at 1 or 2 in the morning, with a high during the daylight hours of Thursday in the lower 50s. We’ll see a high of around 50 degrees on Friday. I should mention that low temps late Thursday night/early Friday morning are expected to be in the 30s. We could also see 30s in the metro area Saturday morning.
Rain chances?
The best chance of scattered showers Sunday evening and overnight Sunday night will be in northern and central Minnesota plus northwestern Wisconsin. An isolated shower is possible elsewhere in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday evening.
You can check the MPR News interactive radar here. There’s fairly dry air in the lowest part of atmosphere right now, so some of the rain that shows up on radar will evaporate before reaching the ground.
We have updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News network, and on the MPR News live weather blog.
On Monday, northern Minnesota will have the best chance of scattered showers. Shower chances arrive in western Minnesota later in the day. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model shows the potential rain pattern from 7 a.m. Monday to 10 p.m. Monday:
Fall color update
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fall color report for Minnesota State Parks and Trails looks like this:
When you look at fall color maps, keep in mind that all deciduous trees are included. The maples can be peaking when the overall changeover to fall color is less than 50 percent in a given area.
I saw great fall colors eleven days ago in Minnesota’s Arrowhead region along the Sawtooth Mountains, inland from Lutsen and Tofte. I’m sure that those fall colors have expanded to include many more areas since then.
The Wisconsin fall color report can be found here.
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. Saturday and Sunday.