Today’s Video:
Good Thursday morning everyone!
The front we discussed yesterday is pushing through the area this morning. Dry low-level conditions and are preventing this already weak line of showers from reaching the ground. Would expect just a very isolated shower or sprinkle into mid-day today but the vast majority will stay completely dry.
We do have another disturbance that has been trending a bit further west and will bring scattered showers tonight into tomorrow morning in the Northern half of Minnesota. Snow is also possible in extreme northeast Minnesota with some grassy accumulations possible.
This disturbance will pull in some cooler air and keep portions of the Eastern Dakotas and Minnesota a bit cooler on Saturday. It will also usher in high pressure and clear skies after it passes and allow temperatures to plummet Friday night and drop below freezing for much of the East Northern Plains. This will certainly allow frost and freeze risks to develop for Saturday morning. However, as this high pressure pushes east throughout the weekend and a storm develops to the west, strong southerly winds will pump in warmer air into the area. Temperatures likely reach the 60s and 70s for the entire region on Sunday!
As mentioned above, after the high pressure moves east, stronger winds will develop for the Western Dakotas on Saturday AND Sunday. Also want to note some gusty winds today and tomorrow associated with the disturbances moving through the area.
The good news is most areas will see sunshine this weekend before clouds work back in late Sunday into early next week as a system approaches from the west.
This system could be quite robust and bring chances of rain and strong storms for much of the area. We could see scattered showers develop as early as Sunday night and pick up Monday, but it looks like late Monday into Tuesday will hold the best risk for heavier showers and storms.
As far as precipitation totals, differences still remain between the GFS/Euro, but we do think the Euro has a better idea of leaving portions of the Northwest Dakotas on the drier side – we’re currently favoring eastern portions of the area for the higher precipitation risks.
We’ll fine tune the precipitation risks and totals has we get closer to the system, but activity does tend to diminish a bit after mid next week and a drier than normal pattern returns for much of the Plains with near normal temperatures for most of the area for week 2. Highest risks for warmer than normal temperatures will be in the West Northern Plains and highest risks for cooler than normal temperatures will be in the East Northern Plains.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out and have a great day!