Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Our wet Friday gave me a chance to catch up on indoor projects. Now I’m ready to venture out again. Let’s see how the weekend is shaping up.

Friday evening rain showers in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin will change over to a mix of rain and flakes later Friday evening and then to mainly flakes in some areas overnight. The highest snow accumulations late Friday night and early Saturday morning will be in northeastern Minnesota and parts of northwestern Wisconsin:

The snow moves off to the east Saturday morning. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday morning:

The Twin Cities metro area could see a few flakes or sprinkles early Saturday morning. Western Minnesota will have the most sunshine on Saturday, but eastern Minnesota will see sunshine by afternoon. The NAM model shows the potential cloud coverage during the daylight hours of Saturday:

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR 

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

We’ll all have some periods of rain and snow on Sunday. Here’s the NAM model’s precipitation depiction for Sunday and Sunday evening:

At this point, it looks like portions of western and central Minnesota could see a couple of inches of snow on Sunday. The Twin Cities metro area might see a light coating of snow on Sunday, especially on grassy areas. 

Saturday highs will be mainly in the 40s, with lower 50s possible in parts of far southern Minnesota:

Our average Twin Cities high is 62 degrees on April 24. We could top out around 50 degrees this Saturday.

Saturday wind gusts of 16-22 mph are possible in many areas on Saturday:

Plotted gust forecasts are in knots, with 17 knots equal to 19.6 mph.

Back to temperatures, Sunday highs will be mainly in the 40s, with some lower 50s in far southwestern Minnesota and parts of the far northwest:

Gusty winds are on tap for Sunday, with the highest gusts in western Minnesota.

Southerly winds will deliver some much warmer temps on Monday. Highs could top 70 degrees in roughly the southern third of Minnesota Monday afternoon, with 60s in central Minnesota. Northern Minnesota will reach the 50s and 40s. The metro area highs are projected to reach about 71 degrees on Monday, followed by lower 60s Tuesday and mid 60s Wednesday through Friday.

We may start out May with near-normal highs in much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The NWS Climate Prediction Center isn’t showing a tendency for above-normal temps or below normal temps in our neck of the woods during the May 1 through May 7 time frame:

In case you’re wondering, our average Twin Cities high temperature is 65 degrees on May 1 and 67 degrees on May 7.

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

If you have outdoor activities planned for the weekend, I hope that those activities are taking place on Saturday — Sunday is looking wet and flakey at times. We have your weekend forecast details, plus a look at the warmer temps that are on tap for Monday.

A chilly weekend; Sunday will be the wettest day, with some flakes, too

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