Weekend weather: Warming trend with some places reaching the 40s
Chance of flakes Sunday in far northern Minnesota
Temperatures will continue to ramp up this weekend. It won’t be T-shirt and flip-flop weather, but our high temps will be well above normal.
Our average Twin Cities high temperature for Feb. 22 (Saturday) is 31 degrees. We’re expecting Saturday highs in the upper 30s to around 40 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area. Highs will be well into the 30s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with a few spots touching 40:
Winds will be fairly light, so Saturday afternoon wind chills will be mainly in the 20s:
Sunday highs in the low to mid-40s are expected in the Twin Cities metro area and will probably reach the 40s in much of east-central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Sunday afternoon wind chill temps will be in the 30s in the metro area and points south and east, with 20s to the north and west:
Rain or snow?
There’ll be some areas of early morning fog this weekend, but the weekend looks precipitation-free across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Far northern Minnesota may see a passing snow flurry or very light snow shower on Sunday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Sunday and Sunday evening:
You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
Snow depths
If you have outdoor plans this weekend, you’ll be happy to know that there’s plenty of snow on the ground across most of Minnesota. Here’s the latest snow depth map, courtesy of the Minnesota State Climatology Office and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:
Much of northern Minnesota has 18 inches or more of snow cover, and parts of northeastern Minnesota have more than 30 inches of snow on the ground. Portions of south-central and southeastern Minnesota have over 12 inches of snow cover.
The official Twin Cities snow depth was 8 inches this Friday morning. Our snow cover will shrink a bit during the afternoon hours this weekend, but we’re starting out with plenty of snow cover in most areas.
I’ll bet that many cross-country skiers, sledders, snowboarders and snowmobilers will be having fun outdoors this weekend!
Weekend events
If you’re looking for weekend activity options, Explore Minnesota has a list of many events and festivals around the state. Among them is the Gull Lake Frozen Fore Winter Weekend in Brainerd, which offers snow golfing and dancing on a frozen lake under a heated tent. With weekend highs in the 30s and light winds until late Sunday, the weather will cooperate with all their events.
Of course, there is a big event in northwestern Wisconsin this Saturday; the 46th annual American Birkebeiner ski race between the towns of Cable and Hayward. Temperatures will rise from teens in the early morning to afternoon highs in the 30s, and winds will be light.
I hope that you have a great weekend!