Strong Cold Front to Bring Rain, Snow Showers to Central Minnesota This Week

(KNSI) — A strong storm system set to impact the Upper Midwest Tuesday through Saturday will bring some much needed rainfall to parched areas of Minnesota.

Highs will warm into the 50s and 60s midweek with noticeable humidity on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. A strong cold front will pass through Thursday night, bringing crashing temperatures into the 20s by the weekend.

The forecast track of the storm would result in widespread rainfall for central Minnesota. According to the National Weather Service, 1-3″ of rain is likely Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with light snow possible Friday and Saturday. The highest chances of snow are in central Minnesota. Forecasters say this could alleviate some of the drought conditions as the ground has not frozen yet, so what does fall will soak in.

The latest Drought Monitor shows almost 80% of the state is experiencing conditions between abnormally dry and extreme drought. That includes central Minnesota, categorized between abnormally dry to severe drought.

In other weather news, Sunday was an extremely windy day around Minnesota, as several counties were under both a wind advisory and a red flag warning. At the St. Cloud Regional Airport, a wind gust of 49 miles an hour was recorded. The highest wind gust in Minnesota was recorded in Evansville, Minnesota, at 60 miles an hour.

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