The weekend brings record warmth and the return of the sun

Fog and light snow are slowing parts of Minnesota Friday, but by the weekend the state sees a little more sunshine and temperatures in the 40s.

Friday’s weather

Minnesota started off Friday morning with areas of fog and light snow.

The light snow is due to a low pressure area moving across the state, and light rain or freezing drizzle will likely mix in with the snow as temperatures warm through the day.

The line of precipitation will clear from west to east and move out of most of the state by late afternoon, but even outside of precipitation the state will remain mostly cloudy. Most of the state will see 1 inch of snow or less, with slightly higher amounts possible for southern Minnesota.

Highs will be 5 to 10 degrees above average Friday, ranging from the upper 20s to mid-30s.

Temperatures

An impressive warmup comes over the weekend, with almost the entire state above freezing on Saturday, and widespread highs in the 40s by Sunday.

The best chance to break records comes Sunday morning when temperatures start the day so mild we could see the warmest low temperatures on record.

The thaw is short-lived though. Already by the middle of next week, temperatures drop by 20 degrees, returning Minnesota closer to February averages.

Here is a look at that temperature roller-coaster for the Twin Cities, with highs in red and lows in blue:

Snow and clouds

The weather next week currently looks very quiet, with only a couple very light snow chances. At this time, the snow total for the whole week looks like it will stay under 1 inch for most of Minnesota.

The quiet pattern should bring a bit more sunshine. Already by this weekend, we should see occasional breaks of sun, with cloud cover varying from mostly cloudy to mostly sunny next week.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.