Strongest storms and severe hazards favor afternoon hours

A cold front is causing patchy rain and thunder across Minnesota today.

Most of the rain cells will be garden showers and thunderstorms. But a few can reach severe limits with heavy hail and damaging winds this afternoon. There is also a low but not zero risk of tornadoes. Remember that you can see up-to-the-minute weather information on the MPR Severe Weather Live Blog.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storm Forecasting Center paints high-risk areas of eastern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Here is the photo of northeastern Minnesota taken by the Duluth National Weather Service office.

Heavy rains locally

The slow front will drop locally heavy precipitation. Many of us will see up to an inch of rain today. Some areas will see up to 1 to 3 inches, especially north of the Twin Cities. This is good news for areas of drought.

Fall week to come

Sunday was the 27th day of 90 degree heat for the Twin Cities. This is the most in nine years since we recorded 31 days out of 90 in 2012.

The rest of this week looks a lot more like September behind Monday’s cool front. Highs will be in the 60s for most of this week, with some 70s later in the week for southern Minnesota.

Frost is likely in parts of northern Minnesota this week.

Temperatures could once again approach 80 degrees in the Twin Cities west of Minnesota by next Sunday and Monday.