Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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It’s a mild Easter Sunday in many areas.

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 54 degrees on April 9. The metro area, south-central and southeastern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin will see Sunday highs in the 60s.

Highs will be mainly in the 50s elsewhere in Minnesota Sunday afternoon, with some 40s in northwestern and west-central Minnesota.

Monday highs will reach the 60s in roughly the southern half of Minnesota and across much of western Wisconsin:

Tuesday highs will be in the 70s across much of central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Unusually warm weather will continue beyond Tuesday. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 70s to around 80 on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by mid 70s Friday.

Most of northwestern Minnesota and far southeastern Minnesota will have a dry Easter Sunday afternoon. Scattered showers are possible elsewhere in Minnesota and into west-central and northwestern Wisconsin. 

Shower activity is expected to be light in most of the areas that do see a bit of rain.

You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News 

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 Sunday morning:

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 7 feet is expected at that location in the next 7 days, with additional rises likely beyond next weekend. 

Here are the results of various river levels at the St. Paul gauge:

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

A rise of about 9 feet is expected in the next week, with an additional rise expected in the following week.

Here are the results of various river levels at the Stillwater gauge:

I should mention that river levels are measured in relation to the height above a local benchmark. In some locations river levels are listed in feet above sea level.

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.

Here are the historic St. Croix River crests at the Stillwater gauge:

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

Most areas will have above-normal temps today and even warmer temps Tuesday through Thursday. We have an update on that, plus Sunday shower chances and a look at river levels.

Mild Easter temps, some 70s this week; Update on river levels

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