Windy and colder through Saturday, warmer Sunday
It's April Fool's Day, but this forecast will be free of jokes, pranks or outlandish claims.
It would be hard to forecast something that we've never seen in the Twin Cities anyway. We've been as warm as 84 degrees on April 1 (last year) and as cold as 9 degrees (1975). In 2002, 4.6 inches of snow fell in the Twin Cities!
Two cold fronts
A cold front has already passed through Minnesota, and another reinforcing shot of cold air moves through on Saturday:
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It will be cool and breezy today across Minnesota, with lower 40s for highs in the south, and 30s for the north.
Flakes tonight into Saturday
The best chance of accumulating flakes tonight and Saturday will be over northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. Some spots could see 1 to 3 inches as depicted in this post from the Twin Cities NWS office:
Minor slushy accumulations are possible on grassy areas in the Twin Cities Friday night and early Saturday morning.
Windy and cold Saturday
Winds on Saturday will be very strong, in the 20-30 mph range with gusts over 40 mph possible:
We are likely to see wind chill temps in the teens Saturday morning!
Highs Saturday will be more than 10 degrees below normal in many spots, with upper 30s expected in the Twin Cities:
Warmer Sunday
Temps rebound nicely over much of Minnesota on Sunday, with upper 50s projected for the Twin Cities metro area:
Wet Wednesday
An approaching low pressure system will give us a chance of showers late Tuesday, and there is a good chance of showers on Wednesday:
Warm March
The numbers are in, and our average temperature for the month of March was 41.3 degrees in the Twin Cities. That places this March as the fifth warmest in Twin Cities history, based on records going back to 1873.
March 2012 was the warmest March in Twin Cities history, with an average temperature of 48.3 degrees.
I hope that you have a good weekend!
Programming note: You can hear my live weather updates weekend mornings at 735 on Minnesota Public Radio.