Severe storms could push through Minnesota late Thursday, early Friday
The National Weather Service in the Twin Cities says Thursday could be the last time parts of Minnesota hit 90 degrees this year, and the heat and humidity will serve as fuel for strong and severe storms late Thursday into early Friday.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, the best chance for damaging winds is in southwest Minnesota, where a complex of storms is expected to race out of South Dakota either late Thursday night into Friday morning. Large hail is also possible with some storms.
"A fairly decent-sized complex of storms should develop and pack a punch as they move through southern Minnesota," said Novak Weather.
NWS Twin Cities
The storms that will push through southern Minnesota will originate much further west in the Dakotas, and they could last all the way into Wisconsin. Here's a good look at potential scenarios, first from the future radar simulation of the HRRR model.
College of DuPage
Now the future radar simulation from the NAM Nest model.
College of DuPage
Storms are forecast to reach the metro mainly after 4 a.m. Friday, and they could be losing intensity as they arrive, according to the NWS.
Novak Weather will have the latest on the storm chances and corresponding severe threat with an update Thursday afternoon.
Earlier this week, the NWS said a "Predecessor Rain Event" (PRE) would be possible Thursday into Friday as moisture advecting north from the Gulf of Mexico and Hurricane Laura, which made landfall along the Louisiana coast overnight, could lead to significant rainfall in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Now, however, the NWS says the flash flood threat is lower due to the fast-moving nature of the storms that will move through the area. The models continue to suggest the heaviest rains will fall in western Wisconsin.
And what should be music to Minnesotans' ears, the weather service is forecasting a drop in humidity Friday and into next week as temperatures recede into the 70s for daytime highs.
