Richfield, Minnesota 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

591
FXUS63 KMPX 192346
AFDMPX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
646 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Scattered thunderstorms this afternoon & evening. The
  strongest storms could contain large hail & gusty winds,
  especially along & north of Interstate 94.

- Seasonable cool & dry this weekend.

- Below normal temperatures continue next week. Rain chances
  return mid-week.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 116 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026

Light rain showers are exiting the area across western Minnesota
while another band of light rain is moving across the I-90
corridor across far-southern Minnesota. However, our area of
interest this afternoon will be with the building cumulus field
across northwest & west-central Minnesota. Instability isn`t
going to be great after the rain & clouds this morning, but
very steep mid-level lapse rates mean than surface-based CAPE
of 500-1000 J/kg should develop this afternoon & allow for these
budding showers to build into scattered thunderstorms by mid-
afternoon. Impressive wind shear for mid-June will be in place
over the area as a jetstreak over the Upper Midwest provides
around 60 kts of 0-6km shear across MN & WI. However the weaker
instability means that any thunderstorms probably wont be able
to realize all of this deep shear, so effective shear values
look to be on the order of 30-40 kts across central MN & western
WI where we expect the most widespread storm coverage. This
still plenty of shear for storms to become organized, so we are
expecting a few strong to severe thunderstorms later this
afternoon with large hail the primary threat followed by
sporadic damaging wind gusts. The main window for these severe
thunderstorms looks to be between 3 PM to 7 PM, with the Storm
Prediction Center highlighting an area along the I-94 Corridor
of eastern MN & western WI with a Level 2/5 (Slight Risk) threat
of severe storms. The storms will begin to weaken as we get
closer to sunset, with the thunderstorms threat mostly over with
across western Wisconsin by 8-9 PM.

Weak high pressure moves into the region behind today`s system,
setting up a seasonably cool & dry weekend with highs generally
in the low to mid 70s expected. Can`t rule out a coupe, isolated
rain showers across western Wisconsin from the cumulus field
Saturday afternoon, but better chances for light rain look to
come Sunday morning across far-southern Minnesota. However, the
main threat for rain looks to set up to our south over Iowa.

Looking into next week: zonal flow aloft should extend the quiet
weekend weather into Monday, but building troughing over the
Great Lakes brings an increased chance for rain Tuesday into
Wednesday. This mainly looks to be another system with
widespread rain showers & a few isolated thunderstorms, & the
threat for any severe weather or heavy rain is low. Northwest
flow persists through the week in response to the troughing
over the Great Lakes & building ridging over the west, which
will keep temperatures seasonably cool through the week. Models
hint at various transient disturbances embedded within the
northwest flow that could lead to low chances for precipitation
later in the week, but mostly quiet weather looks to be the
forecast until next weekend.

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY/...
Issued at 643 PM CDT Fri Jun 19 2026

Thunderstorms with gusty winds will impact KMSP, KRNH and KEAU
for the beginning of the TAF period, but then expect northwest
winds to settle down, with VFR conditions overnight and into
Saturday.

KMSP...
Gusty northwest winds of 40 to 45 kt will continue through about
0030Z, but then the gust front will be through and expect winds
to taper off this evening. Then expect VFR conditions the rest
of the TAF.

/OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/
SUN... VFR. Wind ENE at 5-10 kts.
MON... VFR. Wind NE at 5-10 kts.
TUE... VFR. Chc of MVFR/TSRA. Wind SSW at 5-10 kts.

&&

.MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...None.
WI...None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...ETA
AVIATION...JRB