Sunshine Tuesday, Wednesday; more showers ahead as spring slogs on

Most of Minnesota will see a fair amount of sunshine Tuesday. Northeastern Minnesota will be cloudier. Highs will range from the mid 40s to low 50s. More rain is on the way late Wednesday into the weekend. Snow is possible in the Arrowhead.

Sun Tuesday, showers late Wednesday

Tuesday will still be cool with highs ranging from the mid-40s to low 50s but most of Minnesota will have abundant sunshine.

Expect some midday and afternoon clouds to pop up. Northeastern Minnesota will have more clouds than the rest of the state. We are still on track to see warmer temperatures ahead with 60s becoming more widespread for central and southern Minnesota Thursday.

We also have our next chance of rain developing late Wednesday into early Thursday.

It will be just cold enough in the Arrowhead region Wednesday night into early Thursday to make snow possible.

The Wednesday night moisture is just the first volley of a stretch of clouds and occasional showers.

The next chance of rain will come in Thursday night into Friday with some lingering showers Saturday and Sunday. Total precipitation will be less than last week but still somewhat significant.

USDA sees signs of a slow Minnesota spring

The latest United States Department of Agriculture report for Minnesota is another sign of the overall sluggish spring. Despite our record heat wave the second week of April, last week was wet and cold. Temperatures averaged 5 to 12 degrees below normal last week and precipitation was widespread and substantial.

Not surprisingly, the soils are wet. 92 percent of top spoils are adequate or wet as is 85 percent of the subsoil.

Oats planted is at just 5 percent, which is ahead of last year’s very cold April but behind the 15 year average of 15 percent.