Strong winds Saturday night; cold and breezy Sunday

This is one of the windier Halloweens that you’ll ever see!

Winds of 25-40 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph, are expected across much of Minnesota and far northwestern Wisconsin Saturday evening and overnight Saturday night. The Twin Cities metro area is included in a wind advisory Saturday evening and overnight, and the wind advisory covers much of Minnesota:

“Tonight” in the graphic refers to Saturday night.

Here are details of the wind advisory:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 155 PM CDT Sat Oct 31 2020 MNZ041>045-047>070-073>077-082>084-091-092-010300- /O.NEW.KMPX.WI.Y.0012.201031T1900Z-201101T1200Z/ Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Stevens-Pope-Stearns- Benton-Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa- Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington- Yellow Medicine-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota- Redwood-Brown-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca- Martin-Faribault- Including the cities of Alexandria, Long Prairie, Little Falls, Princeton, Mora, Morris, Glenwood, St Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Elk River, Cambridge, Center City, Madison, Benson, Montevideo, Willmar, Litchfield, Monticello, Minneapolis, Blaine, St Paul, Stillwater, Granite Falls, Olivia, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Shakopee, Hastings, Redwood Falls, New Ulm, St Peter, Le Sueur, Faribault, St James, Mankato, Waseca, Fairmont, and Blue Earth 155 PM CDT Sat Oct 31 2020 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST SUNDAY... * WHAT...Northwest winds 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 50 mph expected. * WHERE...Portions of central, east central, south central, southwest and west central Minnesota. * WHEN...Until 6 AM CST Sunday. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.

A gale warning for Lake Superior starts at 7 p.m. Saturday and runs to 2 p.m. Sunday:

One forecast mentioned 7 to 12 foot waves possible beyond 5 nautical miles from the North Shore.

Saturday night rain or snow?

Northern Minnesota will have a chance of scattered rain showers and snow showers Saturday evening, then some areas of light snow showers overnight Saturday night. Central and southern Minnesota, plus west-central Wisconsin, will have a chance of scattered sprinkles Saturday evening. There could be a few scattered flurries in parts of western Wisconsin later Saturday 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.

Temperatures dip, then rebound

Our Saturday high of 55 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport topped our average Oct. 31 Twin Cities high by four degrees. We might only reach the upper 30s in the metro area Sunday afternoon.

Many locations will see Sunday highs in the 30s, with some lower 40s in southwestern Minnesota:

It’ll be breezy through much of Sunday in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Plotted values are in knots, with 21 knots equal to around 24 mph.

Back to temperatures, our Sunday wintry temps are temporary. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 50s on Monday, followed by highs in the lower 60s Tuesday through Friday.

It still looks like a dry week, and I don’t see any weather problems for people who are out voting next Tuesday. The metro area could see highs around 60 next weekend.

Back to standard time

Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, so any clocks that don’t automatically adjust should be set back one hour before you head off to bed Saturday night:

The graphic above is from 2017, but the info is still appropriate!

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.