A cold front and a strong upper-level trough will move through the Northland on Thursday, bringing scattered showers and ushering in a period of gusty northwest winds. The strongest winds are expected to develop Thursday night and persist into midday Friday, with gusts of 20 to 35 mph likely across much of the region.
A brief cool down is expected after Thursday’s front, with Friday’s highs mostly in the 40s and lows Friday night dipping into the 20s and 30s. There’s a chance we could see the season’s first frost near Lake Superior early Saturday morning.
Temperatures will moderate this weekend, with highs climbing into the 50s and 60s during the afternoons. Sunday looks to be the warmest day of the weekend.
A gale is expected over Lake Superior on Friday, bringing north to northwest winds of 30 to 55 mph. The biggest waves, ranging from 6 to about 11 feet, are likely over the central and southern parts of the lake, east of the North Shore, where lower wave heights are expected due to the wind direction.
The image below displays the predicted wave heights for 1 PM on Friday, October 16, 2026.
Northeast Minnesota could get about 0.05 to 0.2 inches of rain through 7 AM Friday, while northwest Wisconsin might see roughly 0.1 to 0.25 inches or more.
There are two strong systems out there today, but they won’t fully merge. If they did, it could have been quite a system impacting the Great Lakes. Instead, we have a northern stream system digging southeast out of Alberta, while another system moves east-northeast out of Colorado.
GOES-East water vapor loop from Wednesday, October 14, 2026, running from 11:45 AM to 5:35 PM CT.
More severe weather is unfolding this evening across parts of Texas and Oklahoma, where a Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect through late tonight. Several Severe Thunderstorm Warnings (yellow polygons) are active across the region, along with at least one Tornado Warning (red polygon). Meanwhile, colder air is producing snow across portions of Colorado today.
Radar loop from Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
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