Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Return to September: Warming trend with 70s ahead

Temps 10-20 degrees warmer than normal this weekend

Twin Cities area forecast at a glance
Twin Cities area forecast at a glance
Twin Cities National Weather Service office

Here we go again.

Another unseasonably warm and dry air mass is blowing into Minnesota.

Temperatures bottomed out at 34 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Wednesday morning. That’s the coldest temperature since April 20 when we hit 31 degrees. So the 2024 growing season clings to a thread and is at 180 days for the inner Twin Cities urban heat island core.

It looks like we may get another one to two weeks of temperatures above 32 degrees in the Twin Cities before the first freeze. The average first 32-degree temperature at the airport is Oct. 18. The latest is Nov. 18.

Bright sun, low humidity and south breezes will create high fire danger again. Red flag warnings cover western Minnesota all the way through the Dakotas to Wyoming Wednesday. Highs will reach the 60s on this Wednesday.

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

But check out the 70s returning to Minnesota by Thursday:

Forecast high temperatures Thursday
Forecast high temperatures Thursday
NOAA

Our evolving warm wave peaks this Sunday. Highs will push into the mid and upper 70s Sunday afternoon.

Forecast high temperatures Sunday
Forecast high temperatures Sunday
NOAA

I won’t be shocked to see an 80-degree temperature Sunday afternoon in western Minnesota around Madison and Appleton.

Right now, I don't see any meaningful rainfall on the weather maps for at least the next 10 days.

European model (ECMWF) precipitation output
Precipitation output forecast for the next 10 days
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, via Pivotal Weather

We need rain.