Unseasonably mild weather keeps on coming

It sure doesn’t look like February around here. The ground is bare across much of Minnesota. And the lake ice has meltwater on it.

Here’s how the mild weather is likely to play out over the next several days.

Quiet Friday

Friday is starting without the areas of dense fog that have blanketed parts of Minnesota recently. Patchy low clouds wafting in from the east is about all that’s going on meteorologically. Winds will be light.

Temperatures are mild again. The Twin Cities’ low up to 6 a.m. was 28. The average low for the day is 9. And the record low was 32 below zero in 1996. That was the day that Tower in northern Minnesota recorded the state’s all-time record low of 60 below zero.

Afternoon highs should range from the mid 30s to low 40s. The Twin Cities should reach about 42 with an east wind of 5-10 mph.

Dry, mild weekend on tap

The weekend looks dry. High temperatures will be mainly in the 40s statewide both days. Far northern Minnesota might reach just the upper 30s on Saturday. These temperatures will be at least 20 degrees warmer than average.

Even warmer next week

Temperatures will climb next week. The warmest days will be Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly Thursday. Widespread highs will be in the 40s for about the northern half of Minnesota, while southern parts of the state without snow cover could easily see low to mid 50s. The Twin Cities could flirt with record highs in the low 50s.

Rain likely by Thursday

It feels wrong to forecast rain almost a week away in February. However, forecast models persist in spreading a rather weak rain system into Minnesota from the southwest about Thursday.

A changeover to wet snow is possible as the system exits, especially for northern Minnesota where a few slushy inches could fall.

Cooling off toward the middle of February?

It looks like a good chance that cooler, Canadian air will slide into Minnesota as we get closer to mid-February.