Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Colder with good travel weather Thanksgiving weekend

Colder breezes arrive Thanksgiving Day

Surface weather maps
Surface weather maps through Friday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

We’re seeing another balmy-for-November day this Wednesday across most of Minnesota. High temperatures are already pushing well into the 50s across southwestern Minnesota as of this post.

Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
NOAA

But the next cold front is already pushing into northwest Minnesota as I write this, and temperatures will crash about 10 to 20 degrees through Thanksgiving weekend across the Upper Midwest.

You can see the large high-pressure cell dropping toward Minnesota this weekend from Canada on the surface map loop at the top of this post.

Windy and colder weather will cover all of Minnesota on Thanksgiving Day. Highs will stall in the 20s north with lower 30s across the south.

Forecast high temperatures Thursday
Forecast high temperatures on Thanksgiving Day
NOAA

The colder air will be a persistent theme this holiday weekend. Highs in the 30s south to 20s north look common.

Forecast high temperatures Saturday
Forecast high temperatures Saturday
NOAA

The cold pattern over the Upper Midwest persists into next week.

But the medium-range forecast models suggest milder air may ease back into Minnesota in early December. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s eight to 14-day outlook favors a bubble of above-average temperatures across the Upper Midwest.

NOAA 8 to 14-day temperature outlook
8 to 14-day temperature outlook.
NOAA

And the week 3 and 4 outlook strongly favors milder than normal air across our region.

NOAA week 3 and 4 temperature outlook
Temperature outlook Dec. 2-15
NOAA

So far, the forecast models do not suggest any major snowfall systems for Minnesota into early December.

El Niño appears to already be showing an early impact with milder-than-average temperatures in our region as we move deeper into the cold season.