Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Twin Cities, MN
Issued by NWS Twin Cities, MN
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320 FXUS63 KMPX 012020 AFDMPX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 220 PM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Widespread soaking rain Monday trough Wednesday. Amounts of 1-2" expected, approaching 3" across portions of western Minnesota. - Highs in the 60s today through Tuesday (in western WI) will fall back into the 40s and 50s the rest of the week, but will still be running around 5 degrees above normal. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 219 PM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 A surface warm front moved across MN/WI early this morning and has now reached far northern MN. This is why it may not have felt as chilly when you walked out the door this morning as temperatures are ranged 5-10 degrees warmer than what they did the previous morning. Satellite showing eastern MN and western WI wedged in between two areas low to mid-level stratus. For sky coverage today, decided to favor a blend of NBM/Consshort/HREF as it is expected that the clear slot should begin to transition into more filtered sunshine for the rest of this afternoon. The lucky areas that have managed to remain under the clearer skies can expect temperatures to reach near 70 degrees while areas farther will roughly 5-7 degrees cooler given the lack of surface heating. Tonight, clouds will continue to build in from the south and west which should help insulate our lows in the mid-50s. The meat and potatoes of this forecast surrounds Monday through Wednesday. An embedded mid-level wave that is part of a parent troughing pattern over the intermountain west will move in across the Dakotas. This will serve as forcing for the first large band of rain that moves in late tonight and spreads east across MN/WI through the first half of Monday morning. As of now, eastern MN would see rainfall arriving around the morning commute while western WI would see rainfall arrive by mid-morning. Winds during this time are expected to increase across southwestern MN between 25-35 mph. By the mid-late afternoon, a dry slot will begin making its way into western MN which the forces rainfall to become much more scattered in coverage through the overnight hours. At this time, another surface low develops farther south along the same parent trough in south-central plains. This feature than is tracked NNE`ward and is expected to converge onto the northern wave of forcing. The act of this convergence should help generate a new area of low pressure somewhere across southern MN into northern IA. This then will introduce wave number two of widespread precip Tuesday. By Wednesday and Thursday, the parent troughing pattern dawdles over the northern plains and maintains likely chances for additional scattered wrap- around rain rainfall. One thing to note though is PoPs in the latest NBM appear to favor GFS output with precip ending as late Wednesday night as compared to the ECMWF and Canadian departure. But have maintained 20-30 PoP mentions on Thursday to reflect current confidence across western WI. QPF rainfall amounts have not changed much since the previous forecast. Confidence continues to favor that a QPF swath ranging between 1-2.5" of rainfall could fall in eastern SD to northwestern MN. Areas within central MN into western WI could see 1.5-1.75". Areas mainly south of a line from New Ulm down to Pepin could see closer to 0.75". Of course localized higher amounts are possible. Rainfall rates are not expected to be heavy with this system but given the longer duration of rainfall, concerns for localized flooding/ponding could be possible. For the second half of the week into next weekend, the troughing pattern will finally make its way east leaving at least Friday dry. Once the weekend arrives, guidance diverges in solutions as ridging builds in over the western CONUS and troughing sinks into the central plains. The EPS and GEFS both favor another shot at rain showers however, GEFS prefers a track over IA vs over MN currently featured in the EPS. Still some time to work out the details. As for temperatures for the rest of the week, highs should range in the upper 40s to lower 50s with lows in the mid-30s to lower 40s. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1134 AM CST Sun Nov 1 2026 Most of the terminals are in a break in clouds before they fill back in later today ahead of our rain chances. Mostly VFR to MVFR through this afternoon before the drop into IFR comes tonight as the rain moves in. These IFR conditions will persist through the end of the period. There are some chance for LIFR, but there is not enough confidence to load LIFR yet. Once confidence in this occurrence increases it will be added to future TAFs. KMSP...Tomorrow morning into the afternoon is expected to be the main timing for rainfall. More of a scattered and intermittent chance after that. /OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/ TUE...RA/IFR. Wind S bcmg N 10-15 kts. WED...Chc MVFR/-SHRA. Wind NW 5-10G20 kts. THU...VFR. Chc MVFR/SHRA early. Wind N 5-10 kts. && .MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...None. WI...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Dunleavy AVIATION...NDC