Warmth lingers on Friday; colder Saturday, with some periods of snow
Back to the 30s this weekend
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We enjoyed plenty of sunshine Thursday afternoon, along with temperatures that were more typical of October than early December.
The average Twin Cities high temperature is 32 degrees on Dec. 7. The Thursday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 51 degrees. That was 3 degrees shy of the Twin Cities record high temp for Dec. 7.
I did see a report of 55 degrees Thursday afternoon at Eden Prairie. Lakeville and Blaine reached at least 54 degrees. St. Cloud tied their Dec. 7 record high of 53 degrees Thursday afternoon.
Thursday high temps were in the 50s across much of central and southern Minnesota plus portions of northwestern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin. Northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin saw mainly 40s.
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Several spots in southwestern Minnesota reached the 60s Thursday afternoon, including Granite Falls, Canby, Marshall, Windom and Tracy. Highs in the 60s were also tallied in Appleton and Madison of west-central Minnesota.
Temperature trends
Friday highs will be in the the 40s in many areas, with some lower 50s in far southern Minnesota:
Northwestern Minnesota will have mainly 30s.
Saturday highs will be in the 20s in northwestern and west-central Minnesota, with 30s elsewhere:
Gusty winds are expected on Saturday, so it’ll feel chillier than those air temperatures.
Sunday forecast highs are in the 20s in roughly the northern half of Minnesota, with 30s elsewhere:
Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to be in the 30s on Monday and Tuesday of next week.
Snow potential
A low pressure system and upper level disturbance will combine to bring a chance of rain showers and snow showers to northwestern and north-central Minnesota on Friday. Northeastern Minnesota could see spotty rain showers.
Periods of snow are likely in northern and west-central Minnesota overnight Friday night. Then much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see some periods of snow on Saturday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 6 a.m. Friday to 6 p.m. on Saturday:
Parts of northwestern and north-central Minnesota could see two inches or more of snow from Friday night through Saturday. Snow amounts elsewhere in Minnesota and in western Wisconsin are expected to be one inch or less on Saturday. Check forecast updates.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network.
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