Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Here you can enjoy frost and snow one weekend, and bask in 90-degree warmth two weeks later. You’ll also enjoy periods of drought, floods, severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail, and occasional tornadoes. Maybe we’re missing an opportunity to promote extreme weather tourism in this state?

I wish I had better news for the big fishing opener and Mother’s Day weekend in Minnesota. This is our first big holiday and tourism weekend of the “warm” season. The maps keep hinting at a warmup next week, then a burst of summerlike air in two weeks.

One thing for sure. The 80s will arrive, eventually.

Most of the inner Twin Cities core narrowly escaped a killing frost this morning. Lows bottomed out at 35 degrees at both of the main Minneapolis and St. Paul airports. Here are some other selected low temperatures from this morning around the area.

 are up until 8 a.m. for most of southern Minnesota and much of central Wisconsin. 

A reminder, National Weather Service does not routinely issue freeze warnings until the typical growing season is underway. Freezing temperatures are still common through May in northern Minnesota. 

Overnight lows tonight may again hover just above the freezing mark in the inner Twin Cities metro core.

This weekend brings more unseasonably cold air, rain, and possible snow. A clipper spreads mixed rain and snow into Minnesota Saturday. Snow is likely in central Minnesota. Snow may visit the Twin Cities in the hours around and after midnight Saturday night into early Sunday morning. Lovely.

NOAA's GFS model is typical of solutions Saturday. 

Next week does look milder. Highs in the 60s return by Wednesday.

The longer-range upper air maps continue to insist on much warmer temperatures in about two weeks. 

If this pattern verifies, that would push highs into the 80s sometime during the week leading up to Memorial Day weekend. A few model runs have even cranked out highs near 90 degrees as we approach Memorial Day weekend.

From freezing to 90 degrees in two weeks? Nothing about Minnesota weather surprises me anymore.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Freeze warnings and snow chances headline Mother’s Day weekend. Forecast models suggest a big warmup in two weeks.

NOAA GFS model temperature outlook for May 23

NOAA via pivotal weather 

Twin Cities National Weather Service

Forecast low temperatures Saturday morning

NOAA

NOAA GFS model from 7 am Saturday to 7 am Sunday

From freezing to 90 degrees in 2 weeks?

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