Colder Saturday for central and southern Minnesota; warmer again Sunday and Monday
The sun can really warm the ground, even in late November when the sun angle is so low, if there is no snow cover. That was the case on Friday when the Twin Cities warmed to a record 60 degrees, Rochester enjoyed a record 61 and St. Cloud had a record 57.
Prior to Friday, the Twin Cities had not reached even 50 degrees since October 26.
Last November was much balmier. The Twin Cities reached 50 degrees on all of the first 17 days of November 2016, and 18 days for the month in total.
Much colder Saturday for central and southern Minnesota
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The cold front that dropped into Minnesota on Friday brought us some much colder air, but still a bit mild for late autumn. Central and southern Minnesota should warm into the mid 30s to mid 40s under mostly sunny skies Saturday afternoon. The Twin Cities should reach about 41. These temperatures, while a significant downturn on the thermometer, are still warmer than normal. The Twin Cities' average high temperature for November 25 is 36.
Winds will be light from the northwest. It will be a fine afternoon for an outdoor football game.
Not so balmy up north
Northern Minnesota will felt more wintry thanks to a little snow on the ground and some cloudiness. Warroad was just 10 degrees at 8 a.m. Highs on Saturday should be mainly from the mid 20s to low 30s across the north.
National weather for travelers
Most of the country will have fine weather Saturday. Areas of rain and snow are forecast for the interior Northeast and Pacific Northwest.
here have been areas of rain mainly in Upstate New York northern California and northern Arkansas early Saturday morning. Snow has been falling on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, as usual.
Much milder again Sunday and especially Monday
Sunday will bring our state mostly sunny skies and warmer temperatures. Highs should be mainly in the 30s across northern Minnesota and from around 40 to the low 50s in central and southern sections. The forecast high for the Twin Cities on Sunday is 50.
Monday will bring some near-record warmth. High temperatures should be mainly in the 40s in northern Minnesota and 50s to low 60s in the central and south. The Twin Cites should warm to close to 60.
Most of the interesting weather on Monday will be up in Canada where large areas of rain and snow are likely. A cold front will trigger snow and rain in the mountainous U.S. West.
Turning cooler Tuesday
Cooler temperatures will return on Tuesday and hang around for the rest of the week. But even those cooler temperatures will be warmer than normal, a pattern that should continue until we get widespread snow cover. In particular, the lack of snow cover and its ability to radiate heat out to space means that our nights will not get very cold. Some nights will not even cool below freezing. As a result, lakes across the southern half of the state will be very slow to develop thick ice.
Long term outlook
The outlook into December calls for meteorological boredom. Extended forecast models are indicating no storms or arctic outbreaks during the next two weeks. Some flurries or periods of light rain are likely, but nothing more exciting than that.