Windy Sunday, a quiet and cool Monday

No big storms this week

Strong, gusty winds will continue across much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin through Sunday afternoon, then taper off as we go through Sunday evening.

Twin Cities metro area winds are expected to be in the 18-28 mph range, with gusts of 30-40 mph. Parts of southwestern and west-central Minnesota will see gusts over 40 mph today. The strong northwesterly winds will lead to slowly falling temperatures in many areas Sunday afternoon.

Light snow to the north

Scattered light snow showers are possible Sunday afternoon/early evening in north-central and northeastern Minnesota, plus parts of northwestern Wisconsin. Deeper into northern Wisconsin, they could see 4 or more inches of snow today into early Monday in Iron County, including the city of Hurley:

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Bright but cool on Monday

High pressure will move closer on Monday, giving us plenty of sunshine and much lighter winds.

Many areas will see Monday highs in the 20s, with some 30s in the far south:

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Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Some spots in the Twin Cities metro could touch 30.

Monday wind gusts will be below 10 mph in most areas:

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Monday noon forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Plotted values are in knots, with 6 knots equal to 7 mph.

No big storms in sight

Computer models aren’t showing any big storms in Minnesota or western Wisconsin this coming week.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System (GFS) model shows this precipitation pattern for the Monday through Friday time frame:

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Simulated radar (6-hour intervals) Monday through Friday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Look at it as a loop of regional radar snapshots taken every 6 hours over that time span. A stray flurry cannot be ruled out at any point.

Temperature trends

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the mid 30s Tuesday through Thursday followed by upper 30s on Friday.

High temps may reach the upper 30s next weekend and then stay milder than normal the following week. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a good chance of above-normal temperatures in Minnesota and western Wisconsin from Dec. 6 through Dec. 12:

rt1128ext
Temperature outlook Dec. 6 through Dec. 12
NWS Climate Prediction Center

Our average Twin Cities highs are in the lower 30s this time of year, so even mid and upper 30s and lower 40s would be warmer than average.

One year ago today

The NWS and Minnesota State Climatology Office have this Nov. 29 entry for This Date in Weather History:

1991: Parts of central Minnesota receive heavy snow including a record 16 inches of snow in New Ulm.

The official snow total at MSP airport was 12.6 inches that day, which was followed by an additional 1.7 inches on Nov. 30.

As I mentioned yesterday, we tallied 46.9 inches of snow at MSP airport in Nov. 1991. Keep in mind that our average Twin Cities snowfall total for an entire snow season is 54 inches. 

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.