Optimistic for a good downpour

For the first time in weeks, it looks like our entire viewing area will receive some much-needed rain late Thursday night into Friday morning. It’s not going to “fix” the drought, but should be some heavy rain for many of us nonetheless. The timing looks to be mainly between 1am-6am for southeast Minnesota and north Iowa. A line of storms will for late this evening to our west and northwest and move our direction. Since it’s progressive, meaning it’s not going to stall out over us, rainfall totals will be limited to a fairly short window of time.

There is a chance of stronger storms later Friday afternoon to early evening, but that opportunity does not look to be as widespread as tonight’s shot of rain. The potential for severe weather is higher in Friday afternoon’s batch, it’s just that more of us will be left out of the excitement later Friday.

We’ll catch a break from rain chances Saturday and can enjoy a nice, quiet, warm summer day. Showers appear more likely on Sunday, although amounts and exact timing are still in question this far in advance. Temperatures will remain close to “normal” for this time of year through the next 7 day.