Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Chilly weekend, then milder temps this week; Freeze warnings Texas to the Carolinas

Mainly dry on Sunday

Yes, this is unusually cold weather for March.

The Saturday morning low temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 8 degrees. That’s our average Twin Cities low temperature on January 18.

The average March 18 Twin Cities high temp is 43 degrees. Saturday high temps in the Twin Cities metro area and much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will be in the 20s, which is more typical of January than the third week of March. Parts of far western Minnesota will see Saturday highs in the teens.

Very cold temps are hitting much of the U.S. today and tonight. There are freeze warnings posted from north Texas to portions of the Carolinas Saturday night into Sunday morning:

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Freeze warning Saturday night into early Sunday
NOAA/National Weather Service

Low temps late Saturday night/early Sunday morning will be mainly in the single digits in Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

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Forecast low temps early Sunday
National Weather Service

Parts of northwestern Minnesota will dip below zero.

Sunday highs will be mainly in the 30s, with 20s in northwestern Minnesota:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Monday highs range from 20s in far western Minnesota to 40s in the far southeast:

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Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 30s on Monday, followed by lower 40s on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and around 40 on Friday.

Flake chances

A stray flurry is possible today anywhere in Minnesota and into west-central Wisconsin. Parts of northeastern Minnesota could see a snow shower at times.

Accumulating snow is most likely near the south shore of Lake Superior, including parts of northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A winter weather advisory continues until 1 p.m. today for Douglas, Bayfield and Ashland Counties of northwestern Wisconsin. Heavier snow is expected in Iron County, Wisconsin, where a winter storm warning continues until 1 p.m. today.

You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network, and on the MPR News live weather blog.

Minnesota road conditions can be found here. Wisconsin road conditions can be found here.

Some roads in southwestern and west-central Minnesota are still icy, due to recent snow plus the very cold temperatures.

Dry Sunday

Sunday looks dry in most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 6 a.m. Sunday to 11 p.m. Sunday:

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Simulated radar from 6 a.m. Sunday to 11 p.m. Sunday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Weather nugget

Meteorological spring began on March 1. Astronomical spring arrives at 4:24 p.m. Central Daylight Time this Monday, March 20.

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. Saturday and Sunday.