Windy Saturday, with a red flag warning from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

A strong low pressure system that’s centered just north of Lake Superior will move slowly to the east-southeast on Saturday.

Winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts of 35 to 40 mph are expected over much of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin Saturday into Saturday evening.

Vegetation is dry in many areas, so any fires that develop could spread rapidly today. A red flag warning covers much of central and southern Minnesota from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. this Saturday:

The red flag warning includes most of the Twin Cities metro area.

Here are details of the red flag warning:

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 610 AM CDT Sat Mar 16 2024 ...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON... .Northwest winds will increase to around 25 mph and will occasionally gust to 35 to 40 mph this afternoon. Humidity will drop to between near 30 percent. Fuels are very dry and any fire that develops could spread rapidly. MNZ047>049-054>060-062-064>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-162000- /O.CON.KMPX.FW.W.0003.240316T1800Z-240317T0100Z/ Stevens-Pope-Stearns-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa-Kandiyohi- Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Ramsey-Yellow Medicine-Renville-McLeod- Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota-Redwood-Brown-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice- Goodhue-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca-Steele-Martin-Faribault- Freeborn- 610 AM CDT Sat Mar 16 2024 ...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL THROUGH SOUTHERN MINNESOTA... * AFFECTED AREA...Portions of central through southern Minnesota. * WIND...Northwest around 25 mph, gusting to 35 to 40 mph. * HUMIDITY...As low as 30 percent. * IMPACTS...Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and dry fuels can contribute to extreme fire behavior.

Some counties that aren’t included in the red flag warning, including Anoka County and Washington County, do have an elevated fire risk today:

Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 256 AM CDT Sat Mar 16 2024 MNZ041>045-050>053-061-063-WIZ023>026-028-161800- Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Benton-Sherburne-Isanti- Chisago-Anoka-Washington-St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-Eau Claire- Including the cities of Alexandria, Long Prairie, Little Falls, Princeton, Mora, Sauk Rapids, Elk River, Cambridge, Center City, Blaine, Stillwater, Hudson, River Falls, Menomonie, Durand, and Eau Claire 256 AM CDT Sat Mar 16 2024 ...ELEVATED WILDFIRE RISK THIS AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Low relative humidity values of around 30 percent, northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph gusting to around 35 mph, and very dry vegetation will result in an elevated wildfire risk. * WHERE...Portions of central and east central Minnesota into west central Wisconsin. * WHEN...This afternoon. * IMPACTS...Fires could develop quickly and spread due to the very dry vegetation, low humidity and strong northwest winds. * ACTIONS...Check with your local authorities or the Department of Natural Resources to see whether any burning restrictions are in place in your county before starting fires.

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. 

Flake chances north

Some areas of snow showers are expected in north-central and northeastern Minnesota plus northwestern Wisconsin Saturday and Saturday evening. Accumulations are expected to be fairly light in locations that do see some flakes:

Heavier lake-effect snow will hit parts of north-central Wisconsin and the upper penninsula of Michigan.

Gale warnings are posted for Lake Superior Saturday and Saturday night.

Saturday temps

Many locations in Minnesota have already seen their Saturday high temp. The Twin Cities high for today was 51 degrees at 2 a.m., when most of us were sleeping. The afternoon high temp in the Twin Cities is expected to be in the mid 40s.

Most of the northern third of Minnesota will have temps in the 30s Saturday afternoon, with 40s in central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Update

A new Updraft will be posted around 10:40 a.m. today. It’ll include a look at Sunday and 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.