Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Grand Forks, ND
Issued by NWS Grand Forks, ND
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010 FXUS63 KFGF 270435 AFDFGF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 1135 PM CDT Sat Sep 26 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Light rain and drizzle ends east to west across the region tonight. - A stronger weather system moves in for Monday/Tuesday. A widespread soaking rain is expected with most locations having a 50-80% chance for greater than 1 inch. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 212 PM CDT Fri Sep 25 2026 Rain showers move into Northeastern Minnesota by this evening bringing dry conditions back to the region. A weak cold front tonight will bring some clearing to areas west of the Red River Valley allowing temperatures to cool into the 40s F with low to mid 50s F everywhere else Sunday morning. Surface high pressure moves in Sunday pushing out the clouds and bringing high temperatures in the mid 60s to low 70s F. High pressure (1020 mb) Sunday night will bring cooler temperatures in the 40s F across the region Monday morning. Monday, a 500 mb wave begins to track across the Northern Plains bringing our next chance for precipitation. Southerly winds will advect in anomalously high moisture with PWAT values being >200% of normal. Southerly winds advecting in warmer air, high pressure to the north setting up a baroclinic zone, and potentially a deformation zone will provide the forcing for this precipitation. The weak low pressure system is expected to track generally along a line from Jamestown to Roseau, aligning well with the areas that can expect the heaviest rainfall. Eastern North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota currently have a 50-80% chance for getting greater than 1 inch of rain. Probabilities fall into the 10-30% range for 2 inches of rain, with those values being closer to the heaviest axis. Precipitation chances are expected to gradually decrease throughout the day Tuesday. This rain is expected to bring drought relief but could cause issues as well. Slow moving showers with embedded thunderstorms in such a moist environment have the potential to cause isolated flooding. Due to this, the Weather Prediction Center has issued a level 1 of 4 risk for excessive rainfall. Severe storms are not expected. Heavy rain during harvest time will also impact agricultural activities. The weather pattern for the middle to late week period is less certain but looks to be more benign with seasonable temperatures and limited precipitation chances. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/... Issued at 1135 PM CDT Sat Sep 26 2026 Areas of light rain/drizzle are lingering ahead of a front that is moving into eastern ND during the early part of the TAF period. Widespread IFR (pockets of LIFR) stratus remains in place east of the front, with areas of clearing behind the front. The driest low level air is still just to the west (associated with westerly flow) and that means that in the areas of clearing along the front additional radiational fog/stratus may redevelop before the much drier air arrives Sunday morning. This is going to result in a period of highly variable flight conditions during the overnight/early morning hours in eastern ND and northwest MN. The front is expected to finally push east across the entire region through the morning hours Sunday and prevailing VFR conditions are expected across the region (finally) by late Sunday morning continuing into Sunday night. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...LT AVIATION...DJR