Continued chillier than normal well into November
Wouldn’t it be grand to have a few sunny, mild days to enjoy the latter part of autumn? Unfortunately, the weather headline for this Halloween morning is that a chilly October will lead right into an even-chillier November.
Colder-than-normal air from Canada will bring us afternoon temperatures at least 10 degrees colder than normal for this last day of October. Look for statewide highs in the 30s. Clouds should break gradually from the northwest while more clouds build from the Dakotas into northwest Minnesota.
The Twin Cities should have a high around 38 with a rather light northwest breeze. The average high for this date is 51. Temperatures will drop into the low 30s during trick-or-treat time.
Snow to our southeast
A benefit of this blob of cold air is that it has been steering an area of snowfall well to our southeast. Snow has been falling early this Thursday in Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay. Madison, Wis. had picked up 3 inches of snow by 7 a.m.
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A dusting of snow for Minnesota
A weak weather disturbance will send patchy light snow eastward across Minnesota later Thursday night and on Friday to begin November. Some of the snow might become mixed with or change to light rain Friday afternoon as temperatures warm a bit.
Afternoon highs on Friday are likely to be mostly in the 30s again.
Gradually milder on the weekend
Temperatures will moderate a bit this weekend, mainly on Sunday, but I would leave the flip-flops in winter storage.
Some light snow is possible near the Canadian border on Sunday.
Rain/snow likely on Monday, then colder
Our next weather-maker will bring areas of light snow on Monday.
After that system moves off to our east, next week will definitely feel like November. The Twin Cities could have a high temperature of just around 30 next Wednesday as a broad swath of Canadian air builds in and hangs around.
The temperature outlook from the Climate Prediction Center is for a high probability of colder-than-normal temperatures in the 6-to-10 day period from November 5 to November 9.
Crisp, storm-free first half of November likely
Forecast models out beyond next week are keeping us on the cold side of normal through at least the first half of November. But I don’t see any major winter storms coming our way during that period.