Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Welcome to Day 3 of our late February thaw.

Monday is the third straight day above the thawing point in the Twin Cities and most of southern Minnesota. 

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport topped out at 36 degrees Saturday and 35 degrees Sunday. As of this post we’ve already hit a drippy 43 degrees at MSP airport Monday afternoon under bright blue skies and increasingly potent sunshine. 

While it still feels like late winter across central and northern Minnesota, the upstream air mass is unseasonably warm Monday. It’s already hit 52 degrees in Worthington in southwestern Minnesota, where there is little snow on the ground.

Highs Monday will push well into the 60s with a few 70-degree readings across Nebraska and Iowa. 

This will be the warmest day this week. The rest of the week features highs mostly in the 30s for southern Minnesota with 20s up north. 

But check out the incredible warmth building not far southwest of Minnesota. Highs will push into the 70s across Nebraska and western Iowa for the first days of March. Parts of Kansas will approach 80 degrees in the next couple of days!

This week brings a couple of minor clippers to Minnesota. The Twin Cities could see a light wintry mix Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. An inch of snow looks likely north of the Twin Cities Wednesday morning. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System and other models paint the best chance of accumulating snow north of the Twin Cities Wednesday. The systems could create some slick roads Tuesday and especially Wednesday mornings.

A potentially stronger system still looks likely to bring a messy precipitation mix to Minnesota Friday and Saturday. With the freezing line hanging over Minnesota, this system could bring a mix of snow, ice, and rain to parts of Minnesota.

It’s still way too early to be specific about precip types for any one location or time period. NOAA’s GFS model gives you the idea of a wet, messy system between Friday evening and early Sunday morning.

Stay tuned as we watch the forecast model try and grab hold of more consistent solutions this week.

It should be fun to watch, and challenging to forecast! 

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Monday is the third straight day above the thawing point in the Twin Cities. 

Paul Huttner/MPR News

Weather conditions at MSP Airport Tuesday afternoon 

NOAA/FAA

Weather conditions at Worthington Tuesday afternoon 

Monday thaw; snow, ice, rain possible Friday and Saturday

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox