290
FXUS63 KMPX 301156
AFDMPX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
656 AM CDT Thu May 30 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Today and Tonight...Rain and thunderstorms will move into
  western Minnesota later today and slowly push eastward into
  Friday morning. The risk for damaging wind, hail, and heavy
  rain is low, but non- zero.

- Friday...A narrow area of thunderstorms with heavy rain is
  possible Friday afternoon/evening, mainly along and east of
  I-35.

- Next Week...Two stronger systems will bring widespread
  thunderstorm chances on 1) Sunday evening/night, and 2)
  Tuesday/Night. These are several days away, but will need to
  be monitored for severe weather and heavy rain potential.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 246 AM CDT Thu May 30 2024

Today and Tonight...Early morning satellite and radar showed an
area of showers and thunderstorms across the Dakotas slowly
moving east. A few high clouds were spreading out ahead of
these, and this will lead to filtered sunshine today. Areas in
western Minnesota will see some scattered showers and
thunderstorms develop later today as warm air advection moves
across the region. A more widespread area of precipitation will
arrive when the aforementioned convection in the Dakotas makes
its way east this evening and overnight. This will be a slow-
moving system, and most locations should see some rainfall. For
that reason, did increase the hourly precip chances above the
blended guidance where confidence was highest in rain. The
timing may be off a bit, as alluded too in the previous
discussion, but wanted to advertise the higher likelihood of
seeing some rain as this system slowly passes across the region
later today and into Friday morning. There are marginal risks
for both wind/hail across southwest MN, and also excessive rain
across central and western MN. However the lack of instability,
together with the steady eastward advancement of the storms,
should limit concerns for severe weather or flooding.

On Friday...this boundary will eventually stall out across the
region, and then slowly shift northward a couple counties as a
warm front. This stall, and then change in direction could lead
to heavy rain threat from training thunderstorms over a narrow
area. WPC has issued a marginal risk of heavy rain across
central/eastern MN and western WI. Although the risk outlooks
are the same, the synoptic set up is more favorable for heavy
rain on Friday afternoon/evening as compared to today/tonight.
While confidence is higher in the heavy rain potential tomorrow,
there is more uncertainty on where the storms will track. Some
of the guidance has the boundary hanging up across the Twin
Cities, while others have it making it down to near I-90. Given
the lack of heavy convection with a cold pool from tonight`s
storms, the northern solution seems more likely, but can`t rule
out the southern solution (as shown in the 06Z HRRR) either.

On Saturday, most locations should be dry. But, there could be a
boundary in place, and weak warm air advection will linger
across the region. While your location likely won`t see any
rain, there is a small chance (20 to 30%) that it could catch a
stray shower or thunderstorm, so did increase pops above the
blended guidance to at least represent this potential.

Sunday through Thursday...Confidence continues to increase in
the chance for storms late Sunday into Sunday night, and also
again Tuesday into Tuesday night. On Sunday, the thermodynamic
set up is about the best we`ve had all year, with mid level
lapse rates forecast to be near 8C/km, and surface temps in the
low 80s with dewpoints in the lower 60s. MUCAPE values near 2000
J/kg are possible, with a favorable shear profile of southerly
925 winds of 20 to 30 kts, and due westerly winds above 500 mb.
While the shortwave trough does have a lower amplitude, it will
be moving pretty quickly, and becoming more amplified. If things
come together just right, that could lead to organized
convection with severe weather potential late Sunday and Sunday
night.

A second system, will follow quickly for Tuesday. There is more
uncertainty in the timing and placement of this upper level
shortwave. The deep layer shear profile does appear favorable
for severe weather, but the CAPE potential is still variable. At
the very least, both these systems will be monitored over the
next few days.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY/...
Issued at 651 AM CDT Thu May 30 2024

VFR conditions for most of the day. Showers and thunderstorms
are still expected to move eastward later today and tonight, but
the timing has slowed a bit. Winds will be south/southeast
today with gusts near 20 kts. The gusts will decrease toward
sunset.


KMSP...VFR conditions through 00Z tonight. Showers with a few
embedded thunderstorms should be knocking on the door this
evening, and impact KMSP overnight. Due to uncertainty in timing
and coverage, did not include mention of thunder in the TAFs.

/OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/
FRI...VFR/MVFR/-RA likely, chc IFR/-TSRA early. Wind S
10-15kts.
SAT...VFR/MVFR, chc -TSRA. Wind SW 10-15kts.
SUN...VFR, chc MVFR/-TSRA. Wind S 10-15kts.

&&

.MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...None.
WI...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...JRB
AVIATION...JRB