Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Welcome to our annual March relapse in mid-April. At least this time it appears the Twin Cities will escape heavy snow.

. But looking ahead at the medium-range forecast maps, there are few signs of a return to our balmy early April temperatures in the next two weeks. 

Remember this? It was a record 85 degrees in the Twin Cities last Monday. 

As I write this, the thermometer is hovering around 43 degrees at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport a week later. That’s 42 degrees colder.

The big picture reason for our extreme temperature flip in the past week? The upper wind pattern across North America.

Here’s what the flow looked like last week. A dreamily lazy westerly flow pumping warm dry air into Minnesota.

Now take a look at the northern hemisphere upper airflow pattern early next week. 

The strong northwest flow comes directly from the Canadian Arctic. Pulses of cold air like this will pump south for most of the next two weeks.

NOAA’s eight- to 14-day outlook strongly favors colder than average temperatures for the next 2 weeks.

NOAA’s GFS model 16-day temperature output favors highs in the 40s and 50s over the next two weeks. 

That’s below the average high and low of 60 and 39 next week in the Twin Cities. 

Of course, the weather pattern can flip on a dime in Minnesota. It’s possible the cold pattern will break before May. NOAA’s week 3 to 4 temperature outlook favors warmer than average weather in the west, nudging east toward Minnesota as we move into early May.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Major pattern flip from June-like warmth to a March relapse.

NOAA via tropical tidbits

NOAA

NOAA GFS model 16-day temperature outlook for Twin Cities 

April's cold shoulder: 60s look scarce for two weeks

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