Mild weekend; it can snow in April

The headline shouldn't alarm you.

There isn't any snow in the forecast for most of Minnesota this weekend, but northeastern Minnesota could see a mix of rain and a few snowflakes late Friday night and Saturday morning.

April snow

Saturday marks the beginning of April.

We all know about April showers, but what about April flakes?

We average 2.5 inches of snow in the Twin Cities during the month of April.

Last year, only one half-inch of snow was measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Four years ago, a whopping 17.9 inches of snow fell in the Twin Cities during April.

That's nothing, compared to what happened in Duluth.

April of 2013 was the snowiest month Duluth has ever seen, with 50.8 inches of snow!

According to the National Weather Service, the previous snowiest month in Duluth weather history was November of 1991, with 50.1 inches:

Here is a list of the daily snow totals in Duluth during April 2013:

I'm sure that most Duluth residents weren't amused by those dumpings of April snow!

Sunday shower chance

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows some areas of showers over Minnesota Sunday and Sunday night:

The color chart to the right of the loop shows the hourly precipitation rate, not the amount of rain.

The best shower chance in the Twin Cities metro area would tend to be later Sunday afternoon into Sunday night.

Mild temps

Many spots in southern Minnesota will hit 60 degrees Saturday afternoon, with 50s common elsewhere in our state:

Due to more cloud cover, Sunday will be a bit cooler than Saturday in southern Minnesota:

Our average high is only 51 degrees in the Twin Cities on April 2, so Sunday's high in the mid 50s is still above normal.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m. and 9:35 a.m., plus 4:35 p.m., each Saturday and Sunday.