Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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It was a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. 

Our remaining snow cover is shrinking with each passing day. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few metro area golf courses opening within a week or so.

The Saturday afternoon high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 66 degrees. That’s 13 degrees warmer than the average April 8 high temp in the Twin Cities. It was also the warmest Twin Cities high temperature since Nov. 10.

Even warmer temps are on tap next Tuesday through Thursday.

Sunday highs will range from 40s in the northwestern corner of Minnesota to 60s in the southeastern corner of Minnesota plus west-central and southwestern Wisconsin:

Parts of the Twin Cities metro area will reach the lower 60s.

Monday highs will be in the 60s from the the Twin Cities metro area through southern Minnesota and into west-central and southwestern Wisconsin:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 70s on Tuesday, followed by  upper 70s to around 80 Wednesday and Thursday, then mid 70s Friday.

An upper level disturbance could bring areas of showers to western Minnesota Sunday morning, with patchy showers spreading into portions of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday afternoon. The Twin Cities metro area could see occasional patchy showers anytime between around noon and 7 p.m. on Sunday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 6 a.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. Sunday:

Rapid snowmelt will cause flooding in some areas

There’s deep snowpack in much of northern Minnesota and in portions of northwestern Wisconsin. Very warm temperatures in the coming days will cause snowmelt to intensify

The Duluth NWS office posted a spring flood outlook 

The NWS also posted a hydrologic outlook for the green-shaded area on this map:

You can find info on river levels at various locations 

This is how the linked map looked Saturday afternoon:

You can zoom in on the linked map page and get detailed info on river levels at a specific location. Here’s the hydrograph of recent, current and forecast levels for the Mississippi River at St. Paul:

A rise of about 6 feet is expected at that location in the next 7 days, with additional rises likely beyond next weekend.

Here’s the hydrograph of recent, current and forecast levels for the St. Croix River at Stillwater, Minnesota:

A rise of about 7 feet is expected in the next week, with an additional substantial rise possible in the following week.

The March 20 flood outlook from the NWS showed the odds of the St . Croix River reaching major flood stage (89 feet) at Stillwater this spring:

Let’s hope we don’t get significant rainfall anytime soon.

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.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Our Saturday high temps were well above normal, and no chilly air is in sight. We have the forecast details, including a shower chance on Sunday. River levels continue to rise.

Mild Sunday, with a shower chance; Several days with highs in the 70s this week

Go Deeper.

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