Mild Friday, arctic weekend, Monday snow potential?

Get ready for a ride on Minnesota's Winter Weather Midway.

Depending on where you live in Minnesota you may enjoy a fairly mild Friday, and arctic weekend and a potentially plowable snow event Monday.

And that's just the next four days.

Mild Friday

Friday feels relatively mild in Minnesota. Southerly breezes ease in the afternoon and evening, and it will actually feel pretty good out there is you are heading out on for Friday evening plans as temperatures climb into the upper 40s to low 50 in southern Minnesota as we ride the edge of one more milder push from the south.

The exception by Friday night is Minnesota's Arrowhead, where enough sub-freezing air remains to turn rain to snow. Some accumulations are likely.

Arctic weekend

By the wee hours of Saturday morning, the strongest cold front of the season drops south. Northwest winds will crank up overnight, and you'll immediately feel the difference if you step outside early Saturday.

Here's the culprit: the cold front that slides through Saturday as colder Canadian high pressure builds in from the north.

Here's a closer breakdown of the weekend temperature trends for the metro.

Watching Monday snow potential

I'm still keeping an eye on Monday's snow potential. I mentioned earlier this week how the models would likely push the system's forecast track around, and that has come to pass. Recent Global Forecast System runs have trended toward pushing the heaviest snow bands toward the Interstate-90 corridor and into northern Iowa. This scenario would be a near miss for the metro.

The European model suggests a wider snow area that could bring potential for plowable snow into the Twin Cities. In fact, the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is hinting at an all out early winter assault Monday into next week, with several inches of snow and temps that may approach zero even in the metro by late next week.

The onslaught of the season's coldest air seems certain next week. The precise storm track, not so much yet.

The best weather advice at this point? Use the weekend to prepare the possibility for first significant winter onslaught of the season on Monday.

Stay tuned as we watch weather model runs come in Friday and into the upcoming weekend.