Cooler but still well above normal this week

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It was a murky Saturday, with plenty of cloud cover, occasional precipitation and some areas of fog.

A dense fog advisory covers much of western and central Minnesota and a portion of northern Minnesota until midnight Saturday night:

Many locations outside of the advisory, including the Twin Cities metro area, will also see some fog Saturday evening and overnight. Along with the fog, some drizzle will be possible Saturday evening into early Sunday.

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News 

Updated forecast info will be posted by the NWS offices in the 

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport recorded 15 one-hundredths of an inch (0.15) of rain on Friday and another 35 one-hundredths of an inch (0.35) on Saturday. That’s one-half of an inch (0.50) of rain for a two-day total. 

As expected, central and northeastern Minnesota saw precipitation begin as rain Friday, then it transitioned over to a rain/snow mix later Friday followed by mainly snow for awhile. Some Friday/Saturday snow totals received include 1.5 inches in Paynesville and Pine River, and 1.3 inches in St. Cloud. Silver Bay (on the North Shore) reported 3.4 inches of fresh snow.

You can check snow reports posted by the NWS 

. You can pan and zoom the map at the linked site to get details on the location, time and date of the snow report.

Here’s how the Friday/Saturday snow report map looked Saturday afternoon:

Areas of fog are possible into Sunday morning. Parts of northern Minnesota and central Minnesota could see patchy light snow showers Sunday afternoon/early Sunday evening. The Twin Cities metro area and southern Minnesota will have a chance of sprinkles or light snow showers late Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from noon Sunday to 11 p.m. Sunday:

The Saturday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 41 degrees. That was well above the average Dec. 16 Twin Cities high of 28 degrees. Metro area highs are forecast to reach the upper 30s to around 40 on Sunday.

Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see Sunday highs in the 30s, with lower 40s possible in far southern Minnesota:

Far northwestern Minnesota could top out in the upper 20s.

Highs in the 20s will be widespread on Monday, with upper teens possible in far northern Minnesota:

Temps rebound on Tuesday, then stay mild the remainder of the week. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 30s on Tuesday, followed by lower 40s Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

So far this snow season, the Twin Cities snowfall total (measured at MSP airport) is just 4.5 inches. That’s 9.2 inches lower than the average Twin Cities snow total through this point of the snow season.

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

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

We have a recap of Friday/Saturday rain and snow totals, plus a look at Sunday and the week ahead.

Areas of fog Saturday night; Mild temps Sunday, with a chance of PM flakes/sprinkles

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