Wet and windy weather the next few days (strongest winds near Lake Superior) keeping an eye on rain/snow chances next week

An active weather pattern will be in place across the Northland into the middle of next week.

• Rain overspreads the Northland from south to north tonight
• Occasional rain (some downpours) Wednesday and Thursday
• Isolated thunderstorms tonight and Wednesday, mainly for eastern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin
• Occasional showers Friday into early Saturday
• Colder temps possible next week with rain/snow chances

We’re looking at a widespread 1 to 2 inches of rain in the Northland through Friday, with a chance for up to 3 inches of rain in some parts of the area. Although widespread flooding is unlikely given how dry it’s been, some localized flooding or ponding of water is certainly possible in parts of the Northland the next few days.

18z NAM 3km simulated radar forecast ending 1 AM Friday.

Rainy! Although there likely will be some breaks in the rain from time to time through Thursday night. Also of note could be the development of some fog and drizzle especially near Lake Superior the next few days due to the added moisture from the rain plus the flow coming in off the lake.

A look at our approaching storm on water vapor imagery from Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

Should have a large temperature contrast in place on Wednesday with cooler air on the NW side of low pressure, while very warm air continues east of the surface low.

This is a slow moving system and its possible that it will take until Saturday morning for it to move away from northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.

Two totally different weather patterns have setup across the Northland over the last month or so with a wide range in precipitation totals since March 1st, ranging from just 0.36″ at International Falls to over 2.50″ at Duluth (2.64″)

Precipitation totals since March 1st have ranged from just 31% of normal at International Falls to 146% of normal at Duluth.

The black outlined area really needs the precipitation, and hopefully they will get some over the next few weeks. Time will tell.

…Gales over western Lake Superior…

Northeast winds will be increasing over western Lake Superior tonight with gale force wind gusts of 35 to 45 knots expected Wednesday and Thursday. Waves of 6 to as high as 11 feet are possible over western Lake Superior Wednesday and Thursday.

There is a chance that some parts of the Northland sees some snow or a rain/snow mix during the early-middle part of next week. Stay tuned.

Tim