Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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We had highs in the 70s last weekend, but this weekend’s temps will be much more typical of November.

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 42 degrees on Nov. 14. Most spots in the metro area will top out in the upper 30s to around 40 this Saturday.

Much of Minnesota will have Saturday highs in the 30s, with some lower 40s in far southern Minnesota plus parts of western Wisconsin. A few spots in far western Minnesota may also touch 40. It’ll be breezy, with gusts over 25 mph at times.

Rain showers are expected to spread across roughly the southern half of Minnesota plus west-central Wisconsin as we go through Saturday afternoon. The best chance of rain in the metro area should hold off until after 2 p.m. or so. A rain/snow mix is possible this afternoon in northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. That mix transitions to light snow this evening. The areas with afternoon rain showers (including the metro) could see a changeover to a rain/snow mix this evening then all snow later tonight. Only a coating of snow is expected in the metro area tonight, with 1 to 2 inches of snow possible Saturday evening/overnight in parts of northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

A few snow showers are possible Sunday morning in northern Minnesota, with a flurry chance elsewhere.

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

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR 

, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News 

Sunday highs will only reach the 30s in most areas, with 20s to the northwest:

Sunday wind gusts are expected to be in the 25-35 mph range:

Plotted values are in knots, with 26 knots equal to 30 mph.

Gusts could be over 40 mph over Lake Superior, where there’s a gale watch for Sunday:

There aren’t any big storms on the weather map for the coming work week. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach 40 on Monday, followed by lower 30s Tuesday then mid to upper 40s Wednesday through Friday.

Our official Twin Cities snowfall (as measured at MSP airport) is 8.3 inches so far this November. Our long-term average is 9.3 inches for the entire month of November. Of course, we’re less than half-way through this month.

The snowiest November in Twin Cities weather records was in 1991, with 46.9 inches! The biggest daily totals in November 1991 were 18.5 inches on Nov. 1, which was part of the blizzard that began on Halloween, and 12.6 inches on Nov. 29.  

An interesting tidbit about the Halloween 1991 blizzard is that all that snow (28.4 inches from Oct. 31 to early on Nov. 3) melted in less than three weeks. The official Twin Cities snow depth was down to 15 inches by Nov. 10 and to just a trace by Nov. 20:

The column next to the snow depth column shows new snow, and there wasn’t any measurable snow from Nov. 11 through Nov. 20 of 1991. We had a chance to rest our muscles between the big storms!

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.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Some of us will see rain showers at times this afternoon, but there will probably be a mix of rain and snow to the north. We have details on that, plus a look at your Sunday weather and the week ahead. We also have some fun facts about November snowfall records!

Breezy Saturday with rain showers at times; rain/snow mix this evening

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