Another shot at the northern lights tonight, then a very warm Mother’s Day

Here’s your Saturday night forecast for May 11, 2024 from Minnesota’s Weather Authority and Meteorologist Matt Serwe.

A quick note on the northern lights potential Saturday night into early Sunday: You might be able to see them if you drive away from the Twin Cities. The geomagnetic energy observations are a bit lower than Friday night, when you could see them inside the metro. Tonight, you need to head away from city lights, and hope you catch a clear patch of sky. Temper your expectations if you are aurora chasing tonight.

Those clouds tonight are ahead of a cold front. More clouds and a few light rain showers are possible up north. When that front comes across the Twin Cities early Sunday afternoon, it should come through quietly. Ahead of the front, highs get hot for Mother’s Day. Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro should reach the low to mid 80s. Expect low to mid 70s farther north. Even though the metro should be dry Sunday, there will be a few storms that develop in southern Minnesota through the afternoon. If you are doing something outside with mom around Mankato, Owatonna, or Rochester, keep an eye on the radar.

Monday and Tuesday will be near-perfect spring days with a lot of sun and highs around 70°. By the end of next week, the normal high temperature in the Twin Cities reaches 70°. We keep highs near or above normal through the second half of the week. There will be some quick, weak waves moving across the region, bringing rain and storm chances starting Wednesday night. At this point, no severe weather is expected.