Blowing Dust Advisory 2, NWS Twin Cities, MN

843 
WWUS73 KMPX 122145
NPWMPX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
445 PM CDT Tue May 12 2026

MNZ075-084-093-130000-
/O.EXB.KMPX.DU.Y.0002.000000T0000Z-260513T0000Z/
Nicollet-Waseca-Freeborn-
Including the cities of Waseca, Albert Lea, and St Peter
445 PM CDT Tue May 12 2026

...BLOWING DUST ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Visibility between one half and 2 miles in areas of blowing
  dust.

* WHERE...Freeborn, Nicollet, and Waseca Counties.

* WHEN...Until 7 PM CDT this evening.

* IMPACTS...Hazardous driving conditions due to reduced visibility.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Persons with respiratory problems should make preparations to stay
indoors until the storm passes. Be ready for a sudden drop in
visibility to near zero. If you encounter blowing dust or blowing
sand on the roadway or see it approaching, pull off the road as far
as possible and put your vehicle in park. Turn the lights all the way
off and keep foot off the brake pedal. Remember, 'Pull Aside, Stay
Alive'.

&&

$$

MNZ054-064-073-074-082-083-091-092-130000-
/O.EXT.KMPX.DU.Y.0002.000000T0000Z-260513T0000Z/
Lac Qui Parle-Yellow Medicine-Redwood-Brown-Watonwan-Blue Earth-
Martin-Faribault-
Including the cities of Granite Falls, Redwood Falls, St James,
Fairmont, New Ulm, Mankato, Blue Earth, and Madison
445 PM CDT Tue May 12 2026

...BLOWING DUST ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

* WHAT...Visibility between one half and 2 miles in areas of blowing
  dust.

* WHERE...Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Martin, Watonwan, Redwood,
  Lac Qui Parle, and Yellow Medicine Counties.

* WHEN...Until 7 PM CDT this evening.

* IMPACTS...Hazardous driving conditions due to reduced visibility.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Persons with respiratory problems should make preparations to stay
indoors until the storm passes. Be ready for a sudden drop in
visibility to near zero. If you encounter blowing dust or blowing
sand on the roadway or see it approaching, pull off the road as far
as possible and put your vehicle in park. Turn the lights all the way
off and keep foot off the brake pedal. Remember, 'Pull Aside, Stay
Alive'.

&&

$$

CTG

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
1201 PM CDT Tue May 12 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Isolated showers and thunderstorms early this morning with the
  next chance for showers and thunderstorms coming on Thursday.

- A Red Flag Warning has been issued for critical fire weather
  across parts of western and southern Minnesota this afternoon
  and evening, avoid burning in these areas.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 236 AM CDT Tue May 12 2026

A low along the international border will move into the Great
Lakes this afternoon. Early this morning the position of the low
puts much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin into the warm
sector. This has allowed for isolated showers and thunderstorms
to occur. However, there remains significant dry air in the
lower levels of the atmosphere. First, this dry air has been
causing most of the rain to dry up before it reaches the
surface. Second, this keeps LCLs high and instability very
elevated. This means the main impact has been thunder and some
small pea sized hail. This will continue until the trailing cold
front associated with this low passes through later this
morning. Behind the frontal passage we will see gusty winds as
colder air advects in aloft and the surface heats the lower
atmosphere thanks the diurnal hearting to promote ample mixing.
The dry air present from this morning also does not change thus
the critical fire weather conditions. While the worst will be
across western and southern Minnesota it will be elevated
everywhere and today will not be a good time to burn anywhere
this afternoon and evening. The loss of daytime heating will
inhibit the mixing and bring RH values up ending the fire
weather risk late this evening.

High pressure moves in for Wednesday giving us a pretty nice day
with calmer winds, sunny conditions, and highs in the lower 70s.
This doesn't last as our next system moves in on Thursday. Our
next round of rain will be associated with a frontal passage
associated with a low that is expected to move across the
Canadian Prairies to our north. Compared to 24 hours ago
ensembles have started to cluster in a way that makes this rain
event seem more likely to occur. Much more saturated model
sounding as well with deterministic runs have continued to
increase confidence. One other area to watch will be to
determine thunderstorm chances. Currently, instability looks
limited and does not necessarily overlap with the best moisture
and forcing. Still thunderstorms remain a chance and it is
something we will be keeping an eye on. This also looks to be
the start of a more active period continuing into the weekend.
Still a ton of spread here, but a good sign of building moisture
and warmth to get us out of the frost and fire weather pattern
that we had been stuck in to start the month.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 1142 AM CDT Tue May 12 2026

Strong northwest winds continue to be the primary aviation
concern this period. Sustained winds this afternoon are
generally around 15 to 25 kts with gusts up to 35 kts. Gusts
will become less frequent after sunset, and fully diminish by
about 06-08z. A deck of low level cumulus clouds have developed
this afternoon over northern and central MN around 2500-5000
ft. Most sites will see the low end VFR cigs, though some MVFR
will linger near AXN to start the period. As these clouds clear
out, mostly clear skies are expected through the end of the TAF.

KMSP...Adjusted ceilings lower to around 4-5 kft based on
current cu development. The strongest winds are ongoing and will
continue through about 02-04z at around 300-330 degrees.

/OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/
THU...VFR, chc -TSRA/MVFR. Wind SE 10-15G30kts.
FRI...VFR. Wind W 15-20G30kts.
SAT...VFR, chc -SHRA. Wind W 5-10kts.

&&

.MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...Red Flag Warning until 9 PM CDT this evening for Blue Earth-
     Brown-Chippewa-Faribault-Kandiyohi-Lac Qui Parle-Martin-
     McLeod-Meeker-Nicollet-Pope-Redwood-Renville-Sibley-
     Stevens-Swift-Watonwan-Yellow Medicine.
WI...None.

&&

DISCUSSION...NDC
AVIATION...BED

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
315 AM CDT Tue May 12 2026

MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028-
130815-
Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Stevens-Pope-Stearns-
Benton-Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa-
Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington-
Yellow Medicine-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota-
Redwood-Brown-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue-Watonwan-Blue Earth-
Waseca-Steele-Martin-Faribault-Freeborn-Polk-Barron-Rusk-
St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-Eau Claire-
315 AM CDT Tue May 12 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central and
southern Minnesota, and west central Wisconsin.

.DAY ONE...Today and Tonight.

Dry, warm, and windy conditions will lead to critical fire
weather conditions Tuesday afternoon, particularly in western and
southern Minnesota where a Red Flag Warning is in effect.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday.

Dry, warm, and windy conditions could lead to more elevated fire
weather conditions on Friday.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN spotter activation will not be needed.