Snow remains sparse on the 10th anniversary of the Metrodome collapse

After the recent warm trend, temperatures return to seasonable cold for the start of next week.  Meanwhile, snow chances remain very limited across Minnesota. 

This is a big contrast from 10 years ago, when Minnesota was in the midst of a major snowstorm that brought over 17 inches of snow to the Twin Cities. 

The snow collapsed the roof of the Metrodome, making national headlines.

Although the 2010 season clearly had far more snow through Dec. 11, it shares one thing in common with 2020 — much milder-than-average weather from October to early December. 

In fact, so far this December, much of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, is running at least 10 degrees above average.

Friday’s forecast

Even behind a weak cold front that moved through Minnesota Thursday and winds from the north, the state started off very mild Friday morning, with most lows from the mid-20s to lower 30s. 

A big reason for temperatures not dropping much overnight was the widespread cloud cover across the state. Those clouds linger through the day, and along with the cooler wind flow, temperatures warm little, putting highs only in the 20s north and 30s for central and southern Minnesota. 

This is still a few degrees above average for mid-December, but it is noticeably cooler than the recent warm weather. 

While most of the state stays dry, a strong storm clipping southeast of Minnesota could bring light snow or flurries to the southeastern edge of the state from Friday evening into Saturday morning. 

No significant accumulation is expected.

Extended forecast

That storm that clips by keeps skies mostly cloudy into Saturday, although northern Minnesota could see a bit more sun in the afternoon. 

By Sunday, another predominantly dry cold front moves across Minnesota, bringing more clouds and a light snow chance to northern Minnesota, while the southern half of the state sees a few more breaks of sunshine.

Highs in the weekend stay in the 20s north and 30s south, which is still slightly above average.  Then, Sunday’s cold front drops temperatures even more by Monday, putting highs in the teens north and 20s south. 

Here is that forecast for the Twin Cities:

This will feel significantly colder than our recent mild weather, but it is typical cold for this time of year.

Next week holds only isolated snow chances, with nothing significant in the forecast.  However, some models do show the possibly of snow the weekend before Christmas, which I know many people are hoping for. 

We’ll monitor any snow potential very closely and keep you updated.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.