Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Warming up Wednesday; April report card: cool, wet

A few shower chances ahead by week's end

fcst MPX
Twin Cities forecast for the days ahead
National Weather Service

Winds will be much lighter Wednesday with more sunshine. Temperatures will warm well into the 60s and even low 70s with cooler readings along the North Shore. A few showers are possible overnight in northeast Minnesota.

Warmer, lighter winds Wednesday; few showers ahead

Winds will be much lighter, mostly under 10 mph Wednesday at long last. Winds will be from the northwest and switch to southwest as warmer air moves in. Highs will be well into the 60s with some low 70s west but cooler near Lake Superior. We’ll see lots of sunshine also.

WED hi 8
Forecast highs Wednesday
National Weather Service

Thursday will be even warmer. Highs will be well into the 70s across southern Minnesota with mostly 60s north but continued cooler on the North Shore.

THU hi 8
Forecast highs Thursday
National Weather Service

We will start to see a few spotty rain chances in the coming the days. The first chance comes with a few showers in northeastern Minnesota Wednesday night and then more widespread chances Thursday night into the weekend. Neither period looks particularly wet, however.

pop
Precipitation chances in the days ahead
National Weather Service

April climate report

No surprise, April was a bit cooler than normal but not as much as you might think. Had it not been for our second week of April heat wave, temperatures would have averaged much cooler.

APR climate
Some April climate stats
National Weather Service

Temperatures were coldest (compared to normal) in northwestern Minnesota where snow pack hung on late into the month. Those areas didn’t get the heat many of the rest of us saw earlier in the month.

T anom MN
Temperature anomalies (difference from normal) for April
Midwest Regional Climate Center

Precipitation was somewhat mixed, too. It was well above normal in central and northeastern Minnesota but near normal in the Twin Cities and actually below average in far southern and southwestern Minnesota.

MN precip anom APR
Percent of normal precipitation for April
WeatherBELL Analytics

April snowfall was near normal or even below normal in southern Minnesota.

In northern Minnesota, though, it was a very snowy month, even compared to normal. The northwest corner of the state saw four to five times its normal April snowfall while the North Shore and Duluth saw two to five times normal April snowfall.

snow APR MN
Percent of normal snowfall for April
Midwest Regional Climate Center