Wind advisory; snowflake chance early Friday
It's really windy.
After walking from the parking lot into work today, you'll want to check your hair. You don't want to sit down at your desk or go into a meeting with a wild, chaotic hairdo!
Wind advisory
A strong low-pressure system centered near the eastern edge of Lake Superior is bringing strong, gusty winds to Minnesota this Tuesday.
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The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory that covers much of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, until 6 p.m. Tuesday:
Winds could gust to about 40 mph in the Twin Cities metro area, and to near 50 mph in parts of western and south-central Minnesota.
Temperature trends
Minnesota highs will be in the chilly 40s Tuesday afternoon. Our average high temp is 54 degrees this time of year in the Twin Cities metro area.
Our Twin Cities streak of consecutive warmer than normal days has ended at eight. It was a nice run!
Wednesday highs will reach the mid 50s in the Twin Cities, and will range from the upper 40s in northeastern Minnesota to lower 60s in the far southwest:
We'll see 40s north and 50s central and south on Thursday:
Twin Cities highs will only reach about 40 Friday and Saturday, and the lower 40s on Sunday.
Any more 70s?
There aren't any really warm temperatures in our Twin Cities forecast the rest of this month.
Our 78 degree high temp last Friday might be the last time that we reach the 70s in the Twin Cities this year.
Here are the dates of our last official 70 degree or warmer temp in the Twin Cities in each of the past five years:
2016 Nov. 6
2015 Nov. 3
2014 Oct. 16
2013 Oct. 11
2012 Oct. 21
Precipitation chances
Western Wisconsin could see some showers today.
Northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin have a chance of rain-snow showers Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
Looking ahead, northern Minnesota could see rain showers on Thursday, which then mix with or change to snow Thursday night and continue into Friday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Thursday through Friday morning:
Green indicates rain and blue indicates snow on the loop.
Temperatures in the lowest couple of thousand feet above the ground will be very important in determining how soon the rain changes to snow.
Northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin could see some accumulating snow Thursday night into Friday morning.
In the Twin Cities metro area, the rain could change to a rain/snow mix Thursday night into early Friday.
Some light accumulation on grassy areas is possible in the northeast metro early Friday morning.
Check back for forecast updates.
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., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.