Cooler but still well above normal this week

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Thursday brings increasing clouds and more mild weather. Fog and drizzle will develop Thursday night into early Friday. Expect record temperatures Sunday and rain to develop. Some snow is possible northwest.

Increasing clouds Thursday with fog overnight, few sprinkles Friday

It’ll be another mild day Thursday. Clouds will increase through the day so enjoy some morning sunshine. We won’t see a lot of sun again over the next several days. Highs will be in the 40s south to 30s north Thursday afternoon.

The winter solstice is at 9:27 p.m. Thursday, meaning the days will slowly get longer and brighter from here on out, but we don’t gain full minutes per day until Jan. 4. By Jan. 20 we will be gaining two full minutes per day!  

A warm and moist air mass is moving in and that means fog and drizzle will become possible overnight Thursday night into Friday morning.

Temperatures will remain above freezing overnight in central and northern Minnesota, but will be just below freezing north so some of that fog could be freezing fog or freezing drizzle in some areas. 

The increased cloud cover and moisture are part of a weak upper level disturbance moving through that could touch off a few sprinkles Thursday night into Friday. Any precipitation will be light. Highs Friday will be back in the 40s and 30s.

A wet Christmas Eve with record-breaking temperatures 

Temperatures will continue to move upward into the weekend. Highs will be near 50 in southern Minnesota Saturday and into the low 50s on Sunday. Those readings on Sunday will break records in places like the Twin Cities, St Cloud, and Eau Claire, Wis. 

All that anomalous and record warmth is setting the stage for an unusual rainstorm Christmas Eve into Christmas Day. Rain will develop early on Sunday and continue on and off into Monday and Tuesday. That rain will likely turn to some snow in northwest and far northern Minnesota Sunday night into Monday.

Significant rainfall is expected for much of Minnesota from half an inch to more than 1 inch in portions of southern Minnesota.

A narrow area of snowfall increasingly looks likely in mainly just northwest and far northern Minnesota. 

After that, temperatures continue to be well above normal through next week as we move quickly toward 2024 with no end in sight. 

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Sven Sundgaard

Author

Thursday brings increasing clouds and more mild weather. Fog and drizzle will develop Thursday night into early Friday. Expect record temperatures Sunday and rain to develop. Some snow is possible northwest.


Clouds will increase Thursday ahead of a weak disturbance that could touch off a few sprinkles Friday. The main rain event is still Sunday into Tuesday with very mild temperatures continuing. 

More mild weather with fog overnight Thursday, rain develops Sunday

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