Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

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Forecast models and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s medium-range outlooks strongly favor warmer-than-average temperatures for the last two weeks of May in Minnesota.

Highs Tuesday pushed into the lower 80s at several locations in Minnesota. The Twin Cities topped out at 81 degrees as of this post. 

Keep in mind the average high for May 16 in the Twin Cities is 69 degrees. So Tuesday was 12 degrees warmer than average. 

Highs Wednesday will be a few degrees colder, but will still run above average in the 70s across much of Minnesota with some 80s in the west. 

The one temperature speed bump in the forecast is a cold front that will bring shower chances for northwestern Minnesota Wednesday evening, then across Minnesota Thursday. Friday will be windy and colder with highs mostly in the lower 60s. 

Highs will return to the 70s across most of Minnesota by the upcoming weekend.

Forecast models suggest warmer breezes again across Minnesota for most of next week and the last 10 days of May. 

NOAA’s six to 10-day outlook strongly favors warmer-than-average temperatures from the northern Rockies through the Great Lakes. The agency’s eight to 14-day outlook also paints a big red blob across the northern United States.

A few forecast model runs have cranked out highs well into the 80s with possible 90s in the next two weeks.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Highs in the 80s may be more frequent in late May this year. 

Outlook favors warmer-than-average weather through late May

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