Mild temps Sunday, with rain chances highest in northern Minnesota

There was quite a weather contrast across Minnesota on Saturday.

Saturday high temps ranged from 30s in far northern Minnesota to 50s in roughly the southern third of Minnesota. The Saturday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 51 degrees, which is three degrees warmer than the average Twin Cities high for this date.

Northern Minnesota had cloudy skies Saturday and some locations up north saw spotty light snow showers and patchy freezing drizzle. Much of the southern half of Minnesota had plenty of sunshine Saturday afternoon, but clouds will roll into those areas on Sunday.

The chance of scattered light snow showers and spotty freezing drizzle continues into Saturday evening in mainly the northern third of Minnesota and in parts of far northwestern Wisconsin.

Sunday rain to the north

An approaching low pressure system will bring periods of rain to roughly the northern half of Minnesota plus portions of northwestern Wisconsin Sunday and Sunday evening. Far northern Minnesota could see a rain/snow mix at times Sunday and Sunday night. Some spots up north could also see a bit of light freezing rain or freezing drizzle Sunday morning.

The daylight hours of Sunday are expected to be dry in most of the southern half of Minnesota and in west-central Wisconsin, then those areas will have a chance of rain showers Sunday evening and overnight Sunday night.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Finite Volume Cubed Sphere (FV3) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 6 a.m. Sunday to 11 p.m. Sunday:

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. Also check out the MPR News display of National Weather Service radar.

You can also check these National Weather Service sites for updated weather info: Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Grand Forks, N.D.

Temperature trends

The average Twin Cities high temperature is 47 degrees on Nov. 5. Metro area highs are forecast to reach the mid to upper 50s on Sunday.

Much of the southern half of Minnesota will see Sunday highs in the 50s, with some lower 60s in southwestern Minnesota:

Northern Minnesota will have a lot of 40s.

Monday high temps range from 30s in far northern Minnesota to 50s in the south:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 40 on Tuesday, followed by lower 50s Wednesday then mid 40s Thursday and lower 40s on Friday.

Near-normal temps are expected next Saturday, then we could see a stretch of warmer than normal temps. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows strong tendency for above-normal temps in Minnesota and Wisconsin from Nov. 12 through Nov. 18:

Daylight saving time ends

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. this Sunday, so any of your clocks or time displays (on stoves etc.) that don’t automatically adjust to standard time should be set back one hour Saturday night.

Sunset in the Twin Cities will be at 4:56 p.m. Central Standard Time this Sunday. Those earlier sunset times always take awhile to get used to!

Programming note

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.