Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Another warm front: Highs near 50 again Thursday

Temps 10-20 degrees warmer than normal again this week

Upper air forecast map for
Upper-air forecast map for Wednesday and Thursday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, via Tropical Tidbits

Here we go again. Yet another wave of unseasonably mild Pacific air blows into Minnesota starting Wednesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model above shows the upper-air ridge depicting a bubble of warmth across southern Canada and the Upper Midwest Wednesday into Thursday.

Highs will reach the 40s again in parts of southern Minnesota by Wednesday afternoon.

Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
Forecast high temperatures on Wednesday
NOAA

Temperatures in the inbound air mass peak Thursday, with high temperatures Thursday afternoon reaching 50 degrees in southwestern Minnesota and maybe the southwestern Twin Cities exurbs like Carver and Waconia.

Forecast high temperatures Thursday
Forecast high temperatures Thursday
NOAA

Rain chances Friday?

Typically, I’d be writing about snow accumulations with Friday’s inbound weather system. But this is December 2023. Highs in the upper 30s and 40s again on Friday mean that it will likely be warm enough for mostly rain.

Forecast high temperatures Friday
Forecast high temperatures Friday
NOAA

But we could see some snow mix in at times Friday night into early Saturday morning. NOAA’s Global Forecast System model picks up on the precipitation trends Friday. The loop below runs between noon Friday and noon Saturday.

NOAA GFS model Thursday and Friday
Global Forecast System model noon Friday to noon Saturday
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

Temperatures still look to be above normal into next week. That means highs in the low 40s south with mostly 30s north.

The average high and low temperatures for the Twin Cities by next Wednesday are 27 and 12 degrees.

NOAA’s GFS model still hints at possible rain for much of Minnesota on Christmas Eve.

NOAA GFS model
NOAA GFS model for noon on Dec. 24
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

Stay tuned.

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