Cold temps linger through Sunday; flake chances in some areas

I’ll get to the cold temperature forecast in a moment, but I first want to mention that parts of western Minnesota and southern Minnesota will see some periods of light snow Saturday evening. A few flakes may make it as far east as the Twin Cities late Saturday evening.

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News network, and you can see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Cold air stays with us overnight and Sunday

Low temps late Saturday night and early Sunday morning will range from single digits below zero in southern Minnesota to 30s below zero in parts of far northern Minnesota:

There will be enough wind to drop wind chills to -35 to -40 in the north. The National Weather Service has issued wind chill advisories for northern Minnesota and parts of central Minnesota for Saturday night into Sunday morning:

The advisories extend all the way to the Canadian border. The advisories in central Minnesota start at midnight Saturday night and run to 9 a.m. Sunday. Wind chill advisories in northwestern Minnesota run from 9 p.m. Saturday to noon on Sunday. Wind chill advisories in north-central and northeastern Minnesota run from 9 p.m. Saturday to 9 a.m. Sunday.

Sunday high temperatures reach the teens in southern Minnesota, with single digit highs in central and northern Minnesota:

Fairly light winds are expected in most areas Sunday afternoon, but it’ll be breezy in northwestern Minnesota:

Forecast wind gusts are in knots, with 7 knots equal to 8.1 mph.

Sunday snow chances

Light snow could begin in northwestern Minnesota early Sunday afternoon, then spread southeastward into eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin by evening. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from noon Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday:

The light snow could arrive in the Twin Cities metro area around 5 or 6 p.m. on Sunday and continue into the evening, with an inch or so of accumulation. Check forecast updates.

Temperature trends

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is in the upper 20s this time of year. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 20 degrees on Monday, then around 30 on Tuesday. We could start with 30 degrees before sunrise on Wednesday, with temps falling through the 20s during the daylight hours.  Our metro area highs will retreat to the mid-teens on Thursday, then rebound to around 30 degrees on Friday.

The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for above-normal temps for much of Minnesota and Wisconsin during the final full week of February:

We’ll see if that pans out.

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.