Cold fronted; Sun. evening rain, then cold and breezy Monday

The Sunday afternoon high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 64 degrees. Our average high is 59 this time of year. A cold front will move through the metro area Sunday evening, accompanied by some periods of rain.

Much of central and southern Minnesota, plus western Wisconsin, will have periods of rain Sunday evening. In northeastern Minnesota and parts of north-central Minnesota, the rain will change over to snow at some point Sunday evening. The snow will then continue in sections of northeastern Minnesota overnight Sunday night.

Here are the snowy details, from the National Weather Service:

“Tonight” in the NWS graphic refers to Sunday evening and the overnight hours of Sunday night. A winter weather advisory runs from 7 p.m. this Sunday to 4 a.m. Monday in the section of northeastern Minnesota that’s shaded blue:

Here are details of the winter weather advisory:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Duluth MN 317 PM CDT Sun Apr 18 2021 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW TONIGHT... MNZ012-021-190830- /O.NEW.KDLH.WW.Y.0012.210419T0000Z-210419T0900Z/ Northern Cook and Lake-Southern Cook- Including the cities of Isabella and Grand Marais 317 PM CDT Sun Apr 18 2021 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 AM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 5 inches. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph. * WHERE...Northern Cook and Lake and Southern Cook Counties. This includes the Tribal Lands of the Grand Portage Reservation. * WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 4 AM CDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Rain will develop late this afternoon or evening then switch to snow for most areas. Areas close to the lake will see lower snowfall than areas further inland. Temperatures will drop below freezing later this evening which will lead to some slick spots on area roads. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. Road conditions can also be found at 511mn.org for Minnesota or 511wi.gov for Wisconsin.

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Occasional light snow showers are also possible during the day on Monday in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. West-central Wisconsin could see a few sprinkles or flurries Monday.

Temperature trends

Monday highs will be in the 40s in many areas, including the Twin Cities. Northern and western sections of Minnesota will have highs in the 30s:

Monday wind gusts will be in the 20 to 28 mph range in most areas:

Plotted gusts are in knots, with 19 knots equal to almost 22 mph.

Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the mid 40s on Tuesday, followed by upper 40s Wednesday. Our highs rebound to around 60 degrees for Thursday and Friday.  

Twin Cities highs retreat to the 50s next weekend, and cooler than normal temps may linger into the beginning of the following week. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for below-normal temps in Minnesota and Wisconsin for April 24 through April 29:

I should mention that our average Twin Cities high temp is 64 degrees on April 29, so even a high of 60 would be a few degrees below-normal by the time that we reach the final few days of April.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.