Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Twin Cities, MN
Issued by NWS Twin Cities, MN
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701 FXUS63 KMPX 271806 AFDMPX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 106 PM CDT Tue Oct 27 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Multiple chances for rain over the next week with some thunderstorms possible tomorrow. - Above normal temperatures favored to continue into early November. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 106 PM CDT Tue Oct 27 2026 Today and Tomorrow... The main area of WAA today has been focused more across southern Minnesota today. The lack of WAA and continued cloud cover and ample moisture has allowed for cool temperatures to continue across western and central Minnesota. This has even had areas of fog hold on into the afternoon hours. As the trough continues to develop to our west, 850mb flow will become southerly across more of Minnesota and Wisconsin. This will increase our WAA and we will also see additional moisture advect in. With this additional moisture cloud cover will likely persist which will limit how warm we can get. Should still be able to get into the 60s with the chance for some lower 70s still possible. This WAA should allow for the motion of the broader air mass in such a way this it allows enough Fgen for a warm front. This front will be a factor in thunderstorm development tomorrow. ML CAPE looks to build during the day tomorrow reaching up to around 1000 J/kg in the afternoon/evening based on current guidance. This combined with favorable vertical shear profiles has increased chances enough that SPC has added in a marginal risk for tomorrow. As for severe modes, all are possible. The low level shear looks great, but storms could end up mostly elevated and it would be hard for them to take advantage of this. If we can get a surface based storm a tornado could occur. If the storms stay elevated this will stay more of hail risk. Overall this seems fairly conditional and storms could be quite pulsey. In the end it will all come down to how much surface heating we can get. If we under perform on temperature it will be unlikely for us to see any longer lived surface based storms. The other airmass will be the cooler air that starts to travel east later in the day tomorrow. This will create a cold front and will be another forcing mechanism for us tomorrow. Thursday and Friday... Thursday we will behind the cold frontal passage and surface high pressure will move in. The airmass will be cooler, but this higher pressure will finally provide the setup for a return of the sun. Temperatures look to be in the 50s mostly on Thursday as daytime heating somewhat counters the cooler airmass. Friday looks to be similar day to Thursday as the high pressure moves out. The best rain chances at the moment look to stay to our south. This weekend into early next week... A larger scale system looks to be moving across the CONUS this weekend. Deterministic storm tracks now favor areas to our south and this is reflected in the ensemble QPF trends as well. Won`t say that we will be dry, but the trend has been moving lower. Still could see especially southern Minnesota seeing some rain from this. It is more so going into early next week on Monday/Tuesday that is better chance right now. All deterministic global models take a deep surface low right across the north central CONUS. There remains a lot of spread to determine what sector we`d be in and what the impacts will be, but this is the one to keep an eye on for this period. Saturday temperature wise looks to be more 50s. Sunday could start to be warmer with WAA ahead of this next system buoying us into the 60s. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 1221 PM CDT Tue Oct 27 2026 Guidance has been struggling on how to handle the low clouds, areas of fog, and drizzle still ongoing across the area. Generally leaned on the observations in the short term, with slow improvement for mainly western sites experiencing LIFR/IFR fog by 21-22z. CIGS will generally remain IFR/MVFR with very slow improvement before dropping back down late in the period. Another period of fog is possible for AXN/STC/RWF/MKT after 04z, but confidence is low at this time due to how poorly the short- range guidance has performed so far today, however our profile is similar with abundant low level saturation and limited winds. KMSP...A chance for -TSRA is present late in the period, with activity expected to be widely scattered and pulse-type in nature. Otherwise we remain mainly MVFR due to 020-030 level CIGS. /OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/ THU...VFR. Wind NW 5-10kts. FRI...VFR. Wind E 5-10kts. SAT...MVFR/-RA likely. Wind SE 8-12kts. && .MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...None. WI...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...NDC AVIATION...TDH