Wintry mix Thursday night, another storm Friday

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Our average high temperature is 25 degrees this time of year in the Twin Cities metro area. We were already warmer than that at sunrise this Sunday, and we could top out in the upper 40s in parts of the metro area this afternoon. Those are temperatures more typical of the third week of March than the third week of December. Temps back off a bit this coming week, but they’ll still be milder than normal for December.

Highs in the 40s are expected Sunday across much of the southern half of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin. We could even see a stray 50 degree reading somewhere in southwestern Minnesota. Most of northern Minnesota will see highs in the 30s. 

Most of us will have highs in the 30s on Monday, with some 20s in far northwestern Minnesota:

Tuesday highs will also be mainly in the 30s, with 20s in the northwest:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 30s Wednesday and Thursday, followed by lower 30s on Friday. 

Warmer than normal temps could linger right through the end of December. The Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service shows a strong tendency toward warmer than normal temperatures across Minnesota and Wisconsin for the period from Dec. 27 through Dec. 31:

One forecast model shows a dip in temps on Dec. 30 followed by a rebound on Dec. 31, but the five-day period is expected to be warmer than normal.

Northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin had some areas of fog and the chance of patchy freezing fog Sunday morning, and that could happen again late Sunday night and early Monday in parts of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Quiet weather is expected most of Monday and Tuesday. There’s a chance of light snow showers in northern Minnesota on Tuesday.  Some forecast models show a chance of rain showers and snow showers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Christmas Day and also on Thursday…check forecast updates to see if the weather pattern changes.

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR 

, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News 

On this date in 1983, the Twin Cities low temp was -20 and the high temp that day was only -12. The next day was even colder, with a low of -25 and a high of -17 in the Twin Cities:

High temps are in the left column and low temps are in the right-hand column of the graphic. The Twin Cities had ten consecutive days with highs below zero in Dec. 1983, with the final one on Christmas Day.

There was plenty of snow on the ground that December. The Twin Cities tallied 30.4 inches of snow in November of 1983 and another 21 inches in December of 1983. The 1983-1984 snow season brought 98.6 inches of snow to the Twin Cities, which is still the most snow of any snow season in Twin Cities weather records!

If you plan to venture out onto a lake today or in the coming days, here’s a reminder about ice safety.

 from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources indicate that at least 4 inches of clear new ice are needed to support a human:

Here are additional ice-thickness guidelines from the Minnesota DNR:

Additional info on ice safety can be found 

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Our Sunday highs will be more than 20 degrees warmer than normal in many areas. We have details on how long the mild temperatures will last and when we may see rain or snow again. We also take a look back at the incredibly cold stretch of weather in December 1983.

March-like Sunday temps; update on rain and snow chances this coming week

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