Cooler but still well above normal this week

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We’ll have areas of fog Saturday evening into early Sunday. Parts of northeastern Minnesota and Wisconsin will see dense fog.

A dense fog advisory runs to 9 p.m. Saturday in Carlton County and much of St. Louis County. The advisory continues until 7 a.m. Sunday in Lake County and Cook County:

Portions of northern Wisconsin have a dense fog advisory until 11 a.m. Sunday.

The Saturday afternoon high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 47 degrees. The average Twin Cities high temp is just 26 degrees this time of year.

Roughly the southern half of Minnesota, plus west-central Wisconsin, will see Sunday highs in the 50s:

The record Twin Cities high temp for Dec. 24 is 46 degrees. That record is likely to be broken Sunday afternoon.

High temperatures on Christmas Day will range from upper 20s in far northwestern Minnesota to 40s in the Twin Cities metro area plus south-central Minnesota:

Parts of far southeastern Minnesota could touch 50 and west-central Wisconsin could see some lower 50s.

In case you’re wondering, the Twin Cities record high temp for Dec. 25 is 51 degrees, set in 1922.

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 40s on Tuesday, followed by upper 30s Wednesday then lower 30s Thursday and Friday.

Rain has moved into southwestern Minnesota early Saturday evening. Rain coverage will expand across much of Minnesota later Saturday evening and overnight. It’ll also spread into parts of western Wisconsin.

Periods of rain are likely across much of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin on Sunday. Northwestern Minnesota could see a wintry mix of rain, light freezing rain and light snow Sunday and Sunday night/early Monday.   

Parts of northeastern Minnesota could see a wintry mix Sunday night into Monday. West-central Minnesota could see a wintry mix Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, then mainly snow for a while on Monday.  Southwestern Minnesota could have a wintry mix Sunday night and a wintry mix or snow on Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 8 p.m. Saturday through 8 p.m. Monday: 

NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid-Refresh model shows a similar precipitation pattern through noon on Monday:

Snow amounts are expected to be highest in far western Minnesota Sunday through Monday night:

Here are snow and ice chances in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin Monday and Monday night:

Temperatures in the lowest few thousand feet of the atmosphere will be the key to whether more locations in Minnesota see some snow Sunday through Monday night.

Several forecast models show between 1.5 inches and 2.5 inches of precipitation for much of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin from Saturday night through Monday night. Precipitation includes rainfall plus the water content of any snowfall.

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

You can get a point forecast for any location in the United States by clicking on the location 

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’ll see plenty of rain from late Saturday night through Sunday and into Christmas Day. Parts of Minnesota will see a changeover to a wintry mix or snow. Record highs are on tap for Sunday.

Rain Sunday into Christmas Day; snow or wintry mix in parts of Minnesota

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