National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

• Home
• Site Map
• News
• Organization
• Search for: NWS All NOAA 

000
FXUS63 KMPX 221705
AFDMPX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
1205 PM CDT Mon Apr 22 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Chance of showers across eastern/southern MN and western WI
  Monday afternoon/evening and again Tuesday.

- Widespread frost/freeze Tuesday night into early Wednesday.

- The pattern becomes very active with two systems passing
  through at the end of this week and beginning of next week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 255 AM CDT Mon Apr 22 2024

It`s Earth Day! To celebrate, we`ll be discussing the upcoming
weather for parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Current satellite
shows the tendrils of mid/upper level cloudiness associated with the
approaching front, spreading east across Minnesota. Southerly winds
will strengthen out ahead of the fropa, especially over southern
Minnesota where there is 20-35% chance of exceeding gusts greater
than 45 MPH. A Wind Advisory has been issued for this region,
primarily with the concern for strong crosswinds along the I-90
corridor.

The front will pass through dry across western Minnesota, but
building moisture over eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin could
be enough to foster scattered showers in the afternoon. Clouds will
then clear from west to east this evening, allowing for what could
be a pretty sunset!

Another round of showers and some thunderstorms is likely as the
occluded front wraps back around tomorrow. Sounding profiles
highlight mid-level cooling, which will allow lapse rates to become
steeper and saturation easier to achieve. Areas further east will
again be favored for seeing precipitation, with showers
occurring in the morning and some weak thunderstorms forming in
areas that have heated enough at the surface. On the high end,
expect a few reports of pea-sized hail and some thunder for some
parts of Wisconsin.

High pressure moves in Tuesday night, resulting in light winds and
clear skies. Subfreezing temps become likely again into Wednesday
morning, resulting in what would be a fourth night of freeze/frost
headlines.

The long term will continue to be a big talking point this week, as
a pair of upper-level disturbances will look to develop over the
western CONUS and track northeastward into the Upper Midwest within
the late Thursday to Sunday/Monday timeframe. In terms of our
confidence right now: 1) Medium-high that the Thu/Fri system will
have widespread QPF of around an inch, with locally higher amounts
possible. The bulk of precipitation will fall throughout the
day on Friday. 2) Low-medium that the Thu/Fri system will create
an environment favorable for severe thunderstorms. This will be
dependent on the track of the low, with current trends favoring
areas to our south. 3) Low that conditions will become more
suitable for severe weather for the Sun/Mon system as deeper
moisture is pulled from the Gulf. 4) High that the
excitement/awareness is palpable here at the office, with our
severe weather season starting to ramp up this weekend.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY/...
Issued at 1157 AM CDT Mon Apr 22 2024

An approaching front will shift winds from the south to the west
through early this afternoon. A few light showers are possible
with this frontal passage, but should not impact cigs/vis. Threw
in a couple TEMPO groups for this activity. Otherwise, clouds
clear overnight before another round of clouds and showers moves
in with breezy northwest winds tomorrow morning. Highest chances
for showers will be across eastern Minnesota/western Wisconsin
with low VFR/high end MVFR conditions expected.

KMSP...Winds will go southwesterly for a few hours this
afternoon before going straight west by this evening. Decided to
leave out any shower mentions for this afternoon with the
approaching front, but did add a PROB30 for tomorrow afternoon`s
round.

/OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/
WED...VFR. Wind SE 5-10kts.
THU...VFR. Chance MVFR/-SHRA late. Wind SE 10-15kts.
FRI...MVFR/-RA, chance IFR/TS. Wind SE 15-20kts gusts 25-30kts.

&&

.MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...Wind Advisory until 6 PM CDT this evening for Blue Earth-
     Faribault-Freeborn-Martin-Steele-Waseca-Watonwan.
WI...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...BED
AVIATION...Dye