Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Saturday the warmest day of the weekend; a shot at 70 next Wednesday

April snowier than March recently

Last Saturday was beautiful, but most of the buzz was about the snow in our Sunday forecast. I’m glad that we won’t have to deal with a snowstorm this Sunday! On to the forecast…

Temperature trends

Saturday afternoon highs will range from upper 40s in far northern Minnesota to the lower 60s in much of southern Minnesota. Some spots in west-central Wisconsin will probably touch 60. The Twin Cities metro area is expected to top out in the lower 60s Saturday afternoon. Our average Twin Cities high is 59 degrees this time of year.

Winds will pick up a bit by Saturday afternoon, with afternoon gusts over 20 mph in some areas:

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Saturday 1 p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Plotted values are in knots, with 17 knots equal to around 20 mph.

Sunday highs will retreat to the lower 50s in the south, with mainly 40s in northern Minnesota:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Winds will be fairly light on Sunday.

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach around 60 on Monday, followed by mid 50s Tuesday, around 70 Wednesday, then mid 60s on Thursday and around 60 Friday.

Shower chances

Northern Minnesota plus parts of central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin will have a chance of scattered rain showers this Saturday and Saturday evening. A few snowflakes may mix with the rain showers Saturday morning and also after sunset. West-central Wisconsin and southern Minnesota may see some scattered light rain showers by Saturday evening. The Twin Cities metro area could see a passing sprinkle late Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening:

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Simulated radar Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

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

Snowy Aprils

Our April snow total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport sits at 7.3 inches, and I don’t see any measurable snow for the Twin Cities in the next 5 to 7 days.

April 2020 is already snowier in the Twin Cities than March 2020 (1.3 inches), and two years ago April was much snowier than March:

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Monthly and snow season snow totals at MSP airport
NOAA data, via the Minnesota State Climatology Office

You probably remember the 26.1 inches of April snow in the Twin Cities in 2018. Some people would probably like to forget about that (record) April snow total in the Twin Cities!

For this 2019-2020 snow season, MSP airport has received 51.5 inches of snow. Our 30-year average snow-season total is 54 inches in the Twin Cities.

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.