April in March; temps ramp up on Sunday
Much needed rain on tap for Wednesday
The snow cover continues to shrink in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Walking past a golf course in St. Paul today, I noticed that the snow had melted away on almost half of the course. Warmer temps and stronger winds on Sunday will accelerate the snow melt in many areas.
I’m noticing a lot more people out on the trails and sidewalks than there were a couple of weeks ago. We can now wear lighter clothes and we don’t have to dodge as many icy patches, at least during the mild afternoon hours.
Temperature trends
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Saturday was our fifth consecutive day with warmer than normal high temps in the Twin Cities. We topped out at 48 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, which was 12 degrees warmer than our average March 6 high temp. We have a shot at 60 on Sunday. That’s warm; 60 is our average Twin Cities high temp on April 19.
Sunday highs could range from the upper 60s in southwestern Minnesota to the upper 40s in parts of the northeast:
Sunday will be breezy, with gusts of 20-30 mph at times:
Plotted gusts are in knots, with 22 knots equal to around 25 mph.
Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach 60 on Monday, then mid 60s on Tuesday. Our Twin Cities record high for March 9 is 61, so we have a good chance of breaking that daily record on Tuesday. Highs retreat to lower 50s on Wednesday, followed by upper 40s Thursday and around 50 degrees on Friday.
Any rain or snow?
Sunday through Tuesday look fairly dry. We’ll probably see some periods of rain Wednesday and Wednesday night. The Canadian forecast model (GEM, or Global Environmental Multiscale model) is showing the following precipitation pattern from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning:
Some flakes could mix with the rain in the metro area Wednesday evening, and parts of northern Minnesota could see snow or a mix Wednesday night.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
Warmer in 2000
The Twin Cities record high for March 6 is 69 degrees, set in 2000. It was even warmer on March 7, 2000, hitting 73 degrees.
Here are the March 1 through March 14 weather extremes in the Twin Cities, with record highs highlighted:
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.