Cooler weather lingers into the weekend

Much of Minnesota saw its coldest morning of the season Friday, which will be topped by an even colder start Saturday. Next week brings a couple rain chances across the state.

Friday’s forecast

Under mostly clear skies Thursday night and with the chillier air that had already settled over Minnesota, Friday was the coldest morning of the season for many parts of the state. In some cases, it was the coldest air in almost six months.

Lows were predominantly in the 20s in north and central Minnesota, with a few readings in the teens. Southern Minnesota stayed predominantly in the low 30s, with a couple 20s. This was chilly enough for frost in many parts of the Twin Cities that had not seen frost yet this season.

The one exception to the chilly start was along the western border — a disturbance kept in more clouds and more of the morning temperatures are in the mid-30s, and there is a little rain in the southwestern corner of Minnesota as of 9 a.m. Along Lake Superior, there have also been a couple morning snow flakes, including for Duluth.

Otherwise, skies stay predominantly dry, and the state will see a mix of clouds and sunshine during the day. Following the chilly start, highs will also be about 5 to 10 degrees below average, with most of Minnesota in the 40s.

For most of Minnesota these will be the coldest highs so far this season, and in many cases this takes away the “coldest” titles hit on Thursday.

For example, the Twin Cities and Rochester are two of many spots that just had their coldest day so far this season on Thursday, both with a high of 51, and with lows of 35 and 32 respectively.

Already Friday morning, both have beat those morning lows, with the Twin Cities dropping to 33 and Rochester to 30. With highs in both spots expected to be in the upper 40s, Friday will beat Thursday for lows and highs as the coldest day so far this autumn.

Extended forecast

With the chilly highs Friday, and mostly clear skies overnight, Saturday morning will be a couple degrees colder than Friday morning across much of Minnesota, with more frost and freeze conditions, and claiming the title of “coldest morning” so far this fall.

Highs Saturday will be similar to Friday, with most of the state in the 40s under mostly sunny skies.

The next significant rain chance comes Sunday into early Monday thanks to a storm that will track south of Minnesota.

Southern Minnesota will get rain from that storm, but there is uncertainty on how far north the rainfall will extend. It is probable most of central Minnesota will miss any wet weather with that system.

A mid-week storm that currently looks poised to impact Minnesota late Tuesday into Wednesday is more likely to bring widespread rainfall.

There could even be a little snow mixing in for northern Minnesota with that weather system. 

Meanwhile, temperatures turn slightly milder next week, with most of the state back to highs in the 50s by Monday. 

Here is that forecast for the Twin Cities through Monday:

Programming note

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