April breezes now, warmer weather ahead
Medium-range forecast looks warmer for Minnesota
Welcome to the windiest month of the year in Minnesota.
April’s average wind speed at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is 11.1 mph. That’s significantly higher than our average August wind speed of just 8.4 mph.
And here’s a little fact you can use to amaze or bore your friends at the next cocktail party. The Twin Cities average annual wind speed is slightly higher in most data sets than the so-called Windy City of Chicago.
Wednesday’s wind gusts reached 43 mph in the Twin Cities. I saw 46 mph at Fairmont and 48 mph in Jackson.
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Weather mellows this week
Thursday will still be breezy with winds up to 25 mph across our region. But the winds will mellow to just light by Friday. Highs by Friday reflect more sunshine and less wind.
Saturday brings the mildest day of the next few. Highs will push toward 60 degrees in southwestern Minnesota.
Sunday rain?
A slowly moving but fairly weak weather system spins into southern Minnesota on Sunday. Rain showers will cover much of southern Minnesota on Sunday. A few may linger into Tuesday.
Here’s the Canadian model between 7 a.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. Tuesday:
Most models suggest between two-tenths and one-half inch of rainfall for southern Minnesota.
Warmer late next week
Forecast models continue to pump milder air into Minnesota late next week. Highs in the 60s look possible by the weekend of April 13-14.
My hunch is we’re done with significant snow for at least southern Minnesota this season.
Stay tuned.