Mild afternoon temps this weekend; snow melt resumes

Portions of western Minnesota saw dense fog and freezing fog this morning, but conditions are expected to improve by late morning. Fog was more patchy in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Weekend temperatures and wind chills

Happy Leap Day!

Our average Twin Cities high temp on Feb. 29 is 34 degrees. Saturday afternoon highs are forecast to reach the lower 40s in the Twin Cities metro area and much of southern Minnesota, with mainly 30s elsewhere. A few spots in the north could touch 40.

Saturday afternoon wind chills are expected to be mainly in the 20s, with some teens in northeastern Minnesota.

Sunday highs reach the 40s in most areas, with some 30s northwest:

Sunday afternoon wind chills will be mainly in the 30s, with some 20s northwest:

Flake/sprinkle chance far north on Sunday

Far northern Minnesota could see some light snow showers, flurries and sprinkles Sunday afternoon and evening. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Sunday afternoon and 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.

Next week and beyond

The coolest temps of the coming week will be on Monday. Twin Cities high temps are projected to reach the mid 30s on Monday, followed by lower 40s Tuesday, mid 40s Wednesday and Thursday and lower 40s Friday.

The temperature outlook from the NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency toward warmer than normal temperatures next weekend and the following week:

We’ll see how that temperature outlook pans out.

Snow depths

If you have outdoor plans this weekend, you’ll be happy to know that there’s still 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:

Most areas have seen their snow cover shrink a bit in the past week, but much of northern Minnesota still 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 southern Minnesota have 8 to 12 inches of snow cover, while other parts of southern Minnesota have 4 to 8 inches. The official Twin Cities snow depth was 4 inches Friday morning.

Cross-country skiers, sledders, snowboarders and snowmobilers across much of Minnesota still have adequate snow cover for outdoor fun.

Programming note

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.