Temperatures rebound the next few days; near normal by the weekend

Minnesota crop harvest still lagging

The Wednesday snow total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was six-tenths of an inch. There was just enough snow on Wednesday to slick up some of our roads in Minnesota. The Minnesota State Patrol reported 169 crashes in Minnesota by 2:30 p.m., but thankfully there were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities. Be aware of some lingering slick spots early on Thursday.

Thursday afternoon highs will reach the 30s across much of Minnesota, but there’ll be some 20s in north-central and northeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. We should be able to hit the lower 30s Thursday afternoon in the Twin Cities, which is about 10 degrees cooler than our average Nov. 14 high temp.

Friday highs reach the 30s in most areas, with 20s in far northern Minnesota:

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Friday forecast highs
National Weather Service

The southwest will see a few lower 40s.

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The southern half of Minnesota could peak at 40 degrees or higher on Saturday:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Twin Cities metro area highs will be around 40 degrees on both days this weekend. We could hit the lower 40s next Monday.

Take a look at this. We may have mild temps in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. The eight-to-14-day outlook (Nov. 21 through Nov. 27) from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center indicates above normal temps for Minnesota:

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Temperature outlook Nov. 21 through Nov. 27
NWS Climate Prediction Center

We’ll see if that pans out.

Crop report

The Minnesota Crop Progress & Condition report for the week ending Sunday, Nov. 10, states:

Abnormally cold weather abruptly ended sugarbeet harvest, while improving harvest conditions for other crops by allowing equipment into muddy fields. There were 5.3 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending November 10, 2019, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Field activities for the week mostly consisted of harvesting crops, but there were limited reports of some fall tillage and fertilizer application happening earlier in the week before the hard freeze. The crops coming out of fields are often reported as wetter than usual for this time of year, with many producers looking to dry their crop. However, those looking to dry their crop may also face concerns of LP gas shortages.

Later in the report, which is issued by the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Agricultural Statistics Service in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the following summary is given:

Corn harvested for grain reached 63 percent, 11 days behind the average. Corn moisture content of grain at harvest averaged 22 percent, remaining the same as the previous week. Ninety-one percent of the soybean crop has been harvested, 9 days behind last year and 15 days behind normal.

This chart shows how far behind the five-year average the 2019 harvest is running:

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Minnesota crop progress as of Sunday.
USDA, Minnesota Department of Agriculture

I’m sure that the rebounding temps later this week are welcome.