Northern Minnesota is under a new alert until Friday at 7 p.m.

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Temperatures will run 20 to 30 degrees above normal Thursday and Friday ahead of a potent spring storm that will bring thunderstorms late Friday and snow Saturday. 

All four seasons in Minnesota Friday into Saturday 

Our anomalous warmth continues Thursday with highs reaching well into the 60s to near 70 across southern Minnesota. We’ll see more scattered clouds north with brighter skies south. These readings are 20 to 30 degrees above normal. 

Friday will be even warmer with highs in the 70s across southern Minnesota. The record high in the Twin Cities is 73 set in 2012 — and it could be in jeopardy. If we hit 70 degrees, which looks likely, it’ll be the fifth earliest 70-degree reading in the Twin Cities. 

Unusual warmth is preceding an unusually strong spring storm with impacts farther north than usual for this time of year. Our first round of moisture will come in the form of thunderstorms late Friday. Storms will develop in Iowa and lift northeast into the evening and overnight. 

We could be dealing with the first threat of severe weather in southern Minnesota late Friday. The storm prediction center forecasts a slight risk (level 2 of 5) for severe storms late Friday in southeast Minnesota. 

The second round of moisture will be a transition to winter precipitation types. Rain will gradually turn to freezing rain and snow late Friday night and through the day Saturday from west to east. 

Northern and western Minnesota is the favored region for potentially significant snowfall with lesser amounts likely south and east. 

Northwest Minnesota could see a light, icy glaze preceding snowfall Saturday. 

Winds will also howl late Friday into Saturday with gusts over 50 mph possible in western Minnesota. Temperatures will drop Saturday into Sunday with highs just in the 30s and 20s Sunday. We’ll see milder air return already by Monday. 

Sven Sundgaard

Author

Temperatures will run 20 to 30 degrees above normal Thursday and Friday ahead of a potent spring storm that will bring thunderstorms late Friday and snow Saturday. 


More anomalous warmth ahead of a significant storm system

Go Deeper.

Like this?