The State Fair’s final stretch brings sticky air, scattered evening storms, and a preview of an unsettled week ahead
The Brief
- Labor Day will feel sticky in the Twin Cities, with highs reaching 81 degrees.
- Western Minnesota faces a chance of evening storms, some potentially severe.
- Overnight rain could linger into Tuesday morning before clearing skies return midweek.
The Minnesota State Fair’s closing day arrives with a mix of sunshine, clouds and rising humidity, forecasters say, as a storm system tracks toward the western part of the state during the evening hours. For fairgoers wrapping up the final day of the Great Minnesota Get-Together, the atmosphere itself seems determined to squeeze out one more taste of summer before autumn’s cooler air takes hold later in the week.
Morning Clouds Give Way to Afternoon Heat
Skies over the Twin Cities will stay partly cloudy through the morning, with a slim chance of an isolated shower dampening the state’s southwestern corner before midday. Meteorologists point to rising moisture in the atmosphere as the trigger, with dew points climbing into the mid-60s — well above the seasonal norm for early September mornings, which typically hover in the 50s.
Temperatures will start the day unusually warm, in the mid-70s, before climbing into the low 80s by afternoon. That combination of heat and moisture will make conditions feel more like midsummer than the unofficial end of it, a reminder that Minnesota’s weather rarely follows the calendar’s cues. Filtered sunshine will filter through the thickening cloud deck as the day wears on, setting the stage for what comes next.
Storms Take Aim at Western Minnesota
As the afternoon progresses, developing showers and thunderstorms across the Dakotas are expected to push into western Minnesota by evening. Forecasters have flagged a low-end risk for severe weather in that region, though the Twin Cities metro area isn’t expected to see any activity until after sunset.
The system won’t move quickly. Forecasters say pockets of heavy rain are likely overnight, with the potential for lingering showers and rumbles of thunder to spill into Tuesday morning — possibly stretching as far as the lunch hour before finally tapering off. It’s the kind of slow-rolling setup that keeps umbrellas within reach well past the holiday itself, even as most of the metro stays dry through the bulk of Labor Day.
A Humid Handoff Into Tuesday
Tuesday won’t offer a clean break from the muggy pattern. Behind the overnight rain, tropical-feeling humidity is expected to persist, with highs again reaching the low 80s. The stickiness that has defined the holiday weekend will carry over, even as the rain chances fade through the day, leaving behind a heavy, waterlogged feel in the air that won’t lift until later…