Damaging wind, hail and a tornado or two possible in Minnesota Wednesday evening

A NEXT Weather Alert will be in place for eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday because of a conditional severe weather threat.

Conditional means many of the ingredients for severe storms are in place, including damaging wind, hail and possibly one or two strong tornadoes. 

The question is whether storms will be able to "catch fire" and tap into them. Given the time of year and the potential for high-end damage, the decision was made to issue the alert.

Highs will be near 70 degrees, with a few hours of mugginess.

Thursday will be sunny and beautiful, with highs in the upper 50s. Friday will be a bit cloudier but still mild.

Showers or drizzle are still possible Saturday, which is Halloween. It will be a cloudy day but mild, with highs in the low 60s and evening temperatures slowly falling into the upper 50s. How widespread any rain will be remains uncertain, but the forecast leans toward drier than not.

Sunday will be quiet, gray and mild. Don't forget to set your clocks back.

Rain returns for the first half of next week, including Election Day, with highs in the 50s.