Active weather to bring large hail threat Friday, flooding rains this weekend in Minnesota

Severe weather season is upon us and Minnesotans could experience some hefty storms in the coming days. 

On Wednesday, extreme northwest Minnesota is under a slight risk for severe storms, with a greater threat for more storms with large hail possible across parts of southern Minnesota on Friday. 

Today's Weather MN blog is brought to you by Pet Evolution. 

According to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), the greatest threat to southwest and southern parts of the state is large hail, but it really all depends on where the warm front is positioned on Friday. 

Current thinking from the National Weather Service is that most of Minnesota will be north of the warm front, thus the damaging hail threat. Areas along and south of the warm front, which is expected to run west to east through central Nebraska into Iowa along the Interstate 80 corridor, could be in for damaging winds and tornadoes. 

Beyond Friday, widespread heavy rains are expected to soak much of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities. The Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service notes that all of the computer models are suggesting 3-5+ inches of rain is possible through early next week. 

The simulated future radar (may not work in all browsers) definitely looks wet. 

Because Minnesota could remain north of the associated warm fronts with each passing system, temperatures are expected to cool down significantly after highs soar into the upper 70s and low 80s across southern Minnesota on Thursday. Temps this weekend are expected to be in the 50s, maybe only in the 40s for some Minnesotans.