Thunderstorm Threat Looms for Central Minnesota Wednesday Afternoon

(KNSI) — The National Weather Service says central Minnesota is sitting square in the sweet spot for weather action Wednesday, positioned between the slightly cooler conditions expected in western areas and the most intense heat building to the south and east.

Forecasters say the environment is juiced up with moisture and instability values that could support strong to severe thunderstorms if they can break through a cap that’s been keeping a lid on things and preventing any explosive storm development. There is one hiccup with the atmosphere: it is so humid that storms might end up being more of a heavy rain producer than a severe weather maker. Any storms that do develop have the potential to become severe. We’re in the slight, or two out of five, risk category today.

The timing and location are also tricky to pin down, as the models are not in agreement on how and where things will unfold. The St. Cloud area sits in a zone where atmospheric conditions could support storm development, particularly during the hottest part of the afternoon and early evening.

Looking ahead, any storms that survive into the evening should start organizing into a line as they move through overnight into Thursday, followed by a dry air mass that will settle over us for Friday. We’ll see sun and a high in the low to mid-80s with very little wind.

The weekend temperatures will start climbing again with upper 80s expected Saturday and possibly hitting the 90s on Sunday.

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