Enjoy today’s early sun over the Twin Cities! We’re starting off today in the dry slot in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and that’s a good thing. It’s a meteorological term for, if you picture a big storm system as a comma head, the space between the circle and the tail of a comma (,)

More on that in a moment. Here’s your Minneapolis 7 Day forecast (and St. Paul 7 day):

Note that even though we’re in the dry slot for now, we still have a shower chance later. That shower chance is riding the actual cold front from this particular storm, and will usher in winter-like temperatures.

We could have added on the upper left hand of that image “Cold Air” because that’s what is happening in that clear space in far NW Minnesota.

As that wraps around tonight to tomorrow, we’re talking some pretty extreme winds. Gusts in the Twin Cities will likely reach 30-40mph, with sustained winds in the 20mph+ range. It’ll be blowing cold air too – so don’t expect Thursday to feel enjoyable. There’s still inclement weather to be had today, though. Let’s talk about timing for rain. Here’s the midday “Future Radar” view:

Note how gloriously dry it looks for that phase. Then we jump ahead a few hours to about 4pm or so:

Definitely not quite as great – and that’ll cool us down, too. All that green means rain, which will likely bring back painful memories of Monday and Tuesday.

Stay dry (bring a raincoat again, despite the sun), and stay tuned!