Ski-Tonka Snow Report

151 FXUS63 KMPX 010719 AFDMPX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 219 AM CDT Tue Sep 1 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Best chance of rain comes tonight, thunderstorms likely across southern Minnesota with some strong to severe. - A low confidence precipitation forecast with multiple low chances for rain through early next week. - Summer-like temperatures and humidity continue through Labor Day weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 219 AM CDT Tue Sep 1 2026 Welcome to meteorological fall! It will not feel much like fall though with temperatures continuing to be warm (generally in the 80s) even for the peak of summer. In addition we also have a chance for some strong to severe thunderstorms tonight and almost daily chances for more rain/storms. Even though next week is starting to look a little cooler, it will be a while before we get fall weather. Today and Tonight... Another morning of ample radiative cooling and light winds is providing for some patchy fog. Some areas could be locally dense, but it will not be widespread. The cold front has now passed through all of the area, but it won`t be much cooler today as the warm airmass remains over us. The bigger difference with this frontal passage is a drop in dew points. It will not be dry by any means, but not as high as what we saw in the past two days. We could still see some dew points approach 70 along the I-90 corridor as some of the moisture across Iowa advects north. The main impact for today will come overnight as a shortwave moves over the Upper Midwest. Convection is expected to initiate to our west across South Dakota associated with this synoptic feature. As this convection heads east upscale growth into a MCS appears like the most likely solution. MCS maintenance looks favorable as it would be fed by the LLJ. The biggest question right now is how far north will this be? Most of the CAM guidance favors the I-90 corridor, but some outliers get as far north as the southern Twin Cities metro area. Conceptually though the southern solution where most of the CAMs are make the most sense as this would be where the best environment would be. MU CAPE still looks close to 3000 J/kg and deep layer shear also looks strong. Due to the anticipated storm mode damaging winds would be the main risk for tonight. Wednesday into the Weekend... The summer pattern will continue into the holiday weekend. Wednesday looks to be a little cooler with highs more in the lower 80s as we look to get a break from the WAA. This won`t last long as the WAA comes back Wednesday night into Thursday to both bring our next rain chance and warmer temperatures. There will be some lift with the warm front lifting north which should give us enough for another rain chance. As we throughout this period have plenty of warm and moist air to fill the other "ingredients" needed for rainfall. So where we can get enough forcing there should be rain. Once again the best chance for rain this period (Wednesday night) is across southern Minnesota. This will also provide for a warming trend with highs on Thursday in the upper 80s. This heat will hold through Saturday before some cooler air advects back in early next week. Thursday night looks like a similar setup with a similar impact, just a little more spread in ensemble guidance. What is less certain is who will see rain and storms as these more mesoscale features are not apparent this far out and our more synoptic models are too broad with QPF. Friday night into the weekend starts to see much less clustering in the global ensembles and therefore less confidence in the rain forecast. Membership shows continued rain chances, but widely scattered from member to member. So if you have Labor Day Weekend plans keep an eye on the weather forecast as we get closer and start to get a better idea of when thunderstorms could occur. Next week... This uncertain pattern remains into early next week. NBM therefore keeps low PoPs spread across every day. As this gets into days 1 to 3 details will come into alignment. What is more certain is that there does look to be some cooling. Still much above normal temperatures, but instead of 10+ above normal it looks closer to 5 above normal. Normals right now are in the upper 70s and will soon fall into the mid 70s. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1247 AM CDT Tue Sep 1 2026 Areas of patchy fog have developed once again early this morning. This time, the fog seems to be mostly confined near RNH and EAU but some has developed back towards MKT and RWF. MVFR to LIFR tempo groups have been added to reflect fog impacts this morning which are expected to diminish between 14-15z timeframe. Light and variable winds will begin to take a westerly component for the first half of the day but then gradually shift northwesterly during the second half at or about 5kts. Will need to keep an eye on precip arriving late in the period. So far, strongest chances for precip are across southern MN and have introduced prob30s for MVFR -TSRA at RWF and MKT. One thing to note about these prob30s is that they will likely continue to about 7-9z. Although likely upgrades to either tempo or prevailing will likely be needed in future TAF issuances later today. KMSP...Introduced a prob30 for MVFR -TSRA late in the TAF period. Confidence for best thunderstorm coverage is south of MSP but forecast guidance has begun trending northward. Therefore upgrades to TEMPOs or prevailing groups may be needed in future TAF issuances today. /OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/ WED...VFR. Early AM -RA likely. Chc -TSRA late night. Wind SE 5 kts. THU...VFR. Chc TSRA morning and again overnight. Wind SE 5-10 kts. FRI...VFR. Wind S 5-10 kts. && .MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...None. WI...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...NDC AVIATION...Dunleavy