A chilly Saturday, milder on Sunday; rain/snow shower chances in some areas

Our first weekend of astronomical spring started out very chilly in northern Minnesota. Many locations in the north had below-zero Saturday morning lows, and I saw 7 a.m. readings of 15 below zero at Crane Lake, Cook and Ely. Our official Twin Cities low temperature was a reasonable 20 degrees above zero.

Temperature trends

Saturday afternoon highs are expected to reach the 30s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A few spots in northern Minnesota may top out in the upper 20s. The Twin Cities metro area is expected to reach the upper 30s, with an isolated 40 degree reading possible. Our average Twin Cities high temp is 44 this time of year.

Sunday highs are forecast to reach the 30s in northern Minnesota, with 40s in central and southern Minnesota plus western Wisconsin:

Sunday afternoon wind chills will be mainly in the 30s across the south, with 20s to the north:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 50 on Monday, followed by mid 50s Tuesday and lower 50s on Wednesday.

Rain/snow chances

Parts of western Minnesota could see scattered sprinkles/flurries Saturday afternoon. Snow showers are possible in much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin Saturday evening.

There will probably be some periods of light snow in northern and eastern Minnesota plus western Wisconsin overnight Saturday night into Sunday morning. Another batch of light snow moves into parts of northern Minnesota later on Sunday, with a rain/snow mix possible in the south.

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

Some spots along the North Shore of lake Superior could see a couple of inches of snow Saturday night into Sunday:

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

There’s little or no snow cover right now across the southern half of Minnesota, but there’s still substantial snow cover in parts of northern Minnesota.

Here’s the latest snow depth map, courtesy of the Minnesota State Climatology Office and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:

Much of northeastern Minnesota has 18 inches or more of snow cover, and portions of Lake and Cook counties of northeastern Minnesota have snow depths of 30 inches or more. The snow cover is expected to shrink a bit this coming week, as warmer temps arrive.

Below-average snowfall

The weather observers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have recorded only three-tenths of an inch of snow so far this March. For the 2019-2020 snow season, our official Twin Cities snow total stands at 43.2 inches. That’s 6.2 inches below our average snowfall to this point in our snow season.

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.