Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

A shot of rain into Saturday morning; Sunday looks glorious

Bright sun and highs near 70 with light winds Sunday

Forecast high temperatures Sunday
Forecast high temperatures Sunday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Clear the calendar for Sunday, Minnesota. Bright blue sky, warm sun, mild temperatures and a recently rare day with lighter wind are ahead Sunday. But first, it’s another shot of rain for many of us.

Our next low-pressure wave crosses Minnesota on Saturday morning. Scattered rain and some thunderstorms will cross our region through Saturday morning, The steadiest rain will fall in the Twin Cities between about 6 and 10 a.m. Saturday. Showers will fade in the afternoon.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NAM 3 km model below shows the likely progression of rain through Saturday midday.

NOAA NAM 3 km model
North American Mesoscale 3 km model between 1 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday.
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

Temperatures will hover mostly in the 50s on Saturday. Overall rainfall totals with this system will be less than some of our recently prolific storms.

Most of central Minnesota will pick up less than three-tenths of an inch on Saturday, but many areas south of the Twin Cities toward the Iowa border will pick up one-half inch or more.

Here’s the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model precipitation output through Saturday:

European model (ECMWF) precipitation output
Precipitation output forecast through Saturday
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, via Pivotal Weather

Sunday brings the banner day of the weekend. Look for plenty of sunshine and high temperatures in the upper 60s to near 70 degrees across the south with 60s north.

Forecast high temperatures Sunday
Forecast high temperatures Sunday
NOAA

Monday brings another warm spring day before the next rain system brings more showers Monday night and Tuesday.

Forecast high temperatures Monday
Forecast high temperatures Monday
NOAA

The very early look at Mother’s Day and fishing opener weekend favors mainly dry weather with highs probably in the 60s, with a few 70s possible.

Stay tuned.