Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

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Another unseasonably warm and dry air mass is blowing into Minnesota. 

Temperatures bottomed out at 34 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Wednesday morning. That’s the coldest temperature since April 20 when we hit 31 degrees. So the 2024 growing season clings to a thread and is at 180 days for the inner Twin Cities urban heat island core. 

It looks like we may get another one to two weeks of temperatures above 32 degrees in the Twin Cities before the first freeze. The average first 32-degree temperature at the airport is Oct. 18. The latest is Nov. 18. 

Bright sun, low humidity and south breezes will create high fire danger again. Red flag warnings cover western Minnesota all the way through the Dakotas to Wyoming Wednesday. Highs will reach the 60s on this Wednesday.

But check out the 70s returning to Minnesota by Thursday:

Our evolving warm wave peaks this Sunday. Highs will push into the mid and upper 70s Sunday afternoon. 

I won’t be shocked to see an 80-degree temperature Sunday afternoon in western Minnesota around Madison and Appleton. 

Right now, I don't see any meaningful rainfall on the weather maps for at least the next 10 days.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Another warm dry fall air mass is blowing into Minnesota.

Twin Cities National Weather Service office

NOAA

European model (ECMWF) precipitation output

Return to September: Warming trend with 70s ahead

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