Mild Saturday; colder and windy Sunday, with snow

Here’s a quick look at Saturday. Far northeastern Minnesota may see a passing morning snow shower. Many areas will see a cloud/sun mix today, and the far southern counties in Minnesota have a chance of scattered rain showers later this afternoon and this evening.

Saturday highs reach the 50s across central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with 40s to the north:

Winds will be fairly light in southern Minnesota, gusty at times to the north.

Sunday highs reach the 40s in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with 30s elsewhere:

Sunday winds will gust to 25-35 mph in central and southern Minnesota:

Sunday snow

A mix of rain and snow develops late Saturday night and transitions to mainly snow on Sunday.

NOAA’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model includes the Twin Cities metro area, southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin in its swath of plowable snow Sunday through Sunday night:

Southern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin have the best chance of 6 or more inches of snow, but parts of the metro area may end up with 6+ inches as well:

A winter storm watch includes the Twin Cities metro area and southern Minnesota plus western Wisconsin Sunday and Sunday night:

A winter weather advisory covers portions of southwestern Minnesota Sunday.

Here are details of the winter storm watch:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 332 AM CDT Sat Apr 11 2020 ...Heavy Snow Expected Sunday into Monday... .Heavy snow is expected to fall across parts of the area Sunday into Monday. Snowfall rates of one inch per hour or higher appear possible Sunday afternoon and evening which will allow the snow to quickly accumulate. The chance for snowfall amounts of 6 inches or more appears highest from southern and east central Minnesota into west central Wisconsin. In addition, this will likely be a heavy, wet snow. Some tree damage and power outages could occur due to the combination of gusty winds and the heavy wet snow. All are urged to monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation. MNZ060-062-067-068-074-075-082-111900- /O.EXA.KMPX.WS.A.0006.200412T1200Z-200413T1200Z/ Hennepin-Ramsey-Sibley-Carver-Brown-Nicollet-Watonwan- Including the cities of Minneapolis, St Paul, Gaylord, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, New Ulm, St Peter, and St James 332 AM CDT Sat Apr 11 2020 ...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 4 to 7 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. * WHERE...Portions of central, east central and south central Minnesota. * WHEN...From Sunday morning through Monday morning. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. Due to the heavy, wet nature of the snow, tree damage and power outages could occur. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

We’ll have more details on the Sunday snow and a look at next week in the Updraft update around 10 a.m. today.

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.