Some 60s on Sunday; sprinkles possible far northern Minnesota

The Saturday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 53 degrees. That was 16 degrees warmer than our average March 7 high in the Twin Cities. I saw 4 p.m. Saturday temps of 61 degrees at Windom and Marshall in southwestern Minnesota.There were many 50s across southern Minnesota, with mostly 40s in central and northern Minnesota.

We’re expecting highs in the 60s in the Twin Cities metro area and roughly the southern third of Minnesota Sunday afternoon:

Highs in the 50s and 40s are on tap to the north, but far northwestern Minnesota may top out in the 30s.

Sunday will be breezy across the southern third of Minnesota plus western Wisconsin, with gusts over 20 mph at times:

Forecasts are in knots; 20 knots equals 23 mph.

Temperatures retreat on Monday, with highs ranging from the 20s in northwestern Minnesota to 40s in southeastern Minnesota:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 40s Monday, followed by mid 40s Tuesday, upper 40s Wednesday and lower 50s Thursday, then upper 40s Friday.

Sunday precipitation chances north

Far northern Minnesota could see some drizzle or sprinkles Sunday, and mix of sprinkles, light freezing rain and light snow showers Sunday night.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern for Sunday and Sunday evening:

The Twin Cities metro area will have a chance of scattered rain showers overnight Sunday night.

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

The National Weather Service lists the Twin Cities snow depth as just a trace of snow. I’ve noticed that many south-facing lawns and open spots in the metro area have little or no snow cover, while a few inches of snow remain on some north-facing slopes and shaded areas.

Cross-country skiers, sledders, snowboarders and snowmobilers will find the deepest snow cover this weekend over northern parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Here’s the latest snow depth analysis from NOAA’s National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center. (NOHRSC):

Much of north-central and northeastern Minnesota has more than 16 inches of snow on the ground, and some spots in the northeast show more than 30 inches. The snow cover will shrink a bit this weekend, due to our warming trend. Snow cover is more variable in southern Minnesota, ranging from zero in some areas to several inches in other areas.

Switch to daylight saving time

Our smartphones and laptops typically do this for us, but if you have clocks that need to be set manually this is the time to do it.

I’m talking about the switch to daylight saving time that’ll occur at 2 a.m. this Sunday. Setting clocks ahead one hour before you go to bed Saturday night will keep you from being late to any Sunday activities:

Some people still refer to this as a switch-over to daylight savings time, but the correct term is daylight saving time. More info on that can be found at timeanddate.com.

With severe weather season approaching, this is a good time to change the battery on your NOAA weather radio. NOAA weather radios can be set to notify you if a severe weather warning is issued for your area. That’s especially helpful if severe weather hits your area while you’re sleeping and not monitoring the weather via MPR or other media.

Of course it’s always a good idea to check and/or replace batteries on smoke detectors and CO (carbon monoxide) detectors at least once a year, before they run down.

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.