Cooler-than-normal Thursday; warmer weather approaching

Thursday will again be below normal but with more sunshine, especially up north. Friday should be closer to normal temperatures. There are signs of warmer readings late next week.

Closer to normal Friday and Saturday

Two snowfalls missed the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota this week. The first brought heavy snow Tuesday night to northern Minnesota. Another storm Wednesday night brought snow to northern Iowa and southern Wisconsin.

Temperatures the past seven days were well below normal across the region.

Thursday will still be on the cooler side of normal but with increasing sunshine through the day as clouds move out and fog clears in northwestern Minnesota.

Warmer air is moving in for Friday and the weekend, with temperatures becoming closer to normal.

Highs Friday should soar into the 40s for much of the state. The exception, as has been the case consistently, will be northwestern Minnesota where it will be cooler.  

Warmest readings so far next week?

Minnesota will get a break from the stormy, active pattern we’ve been in. A couple minor disturbances will clip northeastern Minnesota Sunday or Monday but otherwise most of us will remain dry for the time being.

We may also see even warmer air attempt to move in mid to late next week. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model pushes us to the 50-degree mark by Wednesday.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model makes us wait until next Saturday, which would be April 1. We reach the 50-degree mark before April in the Twin Cities 91 percent of the time. Will this be the year we have to wait a little longer?

Here are the median first 50-degree dates for a few places around the state:

The one big thing influencing the flow of air masses next week is a potentially big storm system for late next week.