Hazardous air quality forecast for much of Minnesota Thursday as fires grow

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

Our Twin Cities Thursday high temperature of 68 degrees equaled our average Twin Cities high for May 11. The highs in the lower 30s that we saw yesterday and that we’ll see again today are typical of early December. Our average Twin Cities high is 44 degrees on Nov. 12.

Highs will be in the 20s across much of Minnesota Saturday afternoon, with lower 30s in the metro area, southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. It’ll be a bit breezy, so wind chill temps will be in the teens in many areas, with single-digit wind chills at times in far western Minnesota

Sunday highs will be in the 20s in many areas, with lower 30s in the metro area, southeastern Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin:

Winds will be light on Sunday, as a high pressure system settles in over Minnesota:

Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the lower 30s Monday and Tuesday, then around 30 Wednesday followed by mid 20s Thursday and around 20 on Friday.

A few passing flurries are possible in Minnesota this Saturday, and parts of western Wisconsin will see a few flurries or light snow showers. Substantial lake-enhanced snow totals are expected today and tonight in portions of north-central Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan:

A low-pressure system is expected to spread snow into western Minnesota Sunday night and the snow coverage will probably expand to include the remainder of Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 5 p.m. Sunday to 5 p.m. Monday:

Some forecast models show periods of snow continuing Monday night and Tuesday in many areas. Even if the snow isn’t particularly heavy, it can add up over the two-day period. Check forecast updates, there may very well be enough snow to shovel and plow from Monday into Tuesday.

We have updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News 

The Minnesota State Climatology Office and the National Weather Service have the following listing for this date in weather history:

I checked, and the high of 11 degrees in 1940 is still our record cold Nov. 12 high temp in the Twin Cities.

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Our weekend weather will be more typical of December than November. We may be able to shovel a bit of snow next week.

Colder than normal into next week; Snow chances ramp up Monday into Tuesday

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox