Mississippi: 8th-highest crest Sunday; first 70 next weekend?

Our weather maps turn another springlike corner this week in Minnesota.

Temperatures climb a springy ladder this week through the upper 40s and 50s. By Friday, the strongest warm front of the young season blows in. The season's first 70-degree temperatures threaten to send bank thermometers into a blinking frenzy this weekend.

No foolin'.

But first, the last few snowy gasps may drop a dusting along the Interstate 90 corridor in the wee small hours Tuesday morning.

A second front sweeps across northern Minnesota with a few snow showers possible Tuesday. It should be mild enough for a few sprinkles of rain in the Twin Cities Tuesday afternoon.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NAM 3 km resolution model captures the essence of the two minor weather systems sweeping across Minnesota Monday night and Tuesday.

Milder days ahead

April in Minnesota is more spring than winter.

Most years.

Temperatures climb slowly this week. A warm front blows into Minnesota Thursday night. That may put a spring in your step Friday and into next weekend. Thermometers push blissfully close to 70 degrees next weekend.

The longer range forecast suggests continued milder than average temperatures through most of next week. As of right now, I just don't see any big bad April snowstorms lurking this year. Weather fingers (and toes) crossed.

Rivers slowly falling

Many rivers in southern Minnesota have now crested and are slowly falling this week. Sunday evening's crest on the Mississippi at St. Paul marks the eighth-highest flood of record. It's also the highest water level in five years.

The Crow River has crested and is now falling steadily. Here's the hydrograph at Delano.

The St. Croix is near crest at Stillwater.

The news for the Red River at Fargo, N.D., is better than it looked two to three weeks ago.

This is one of the most well-timed dry spells in the history of spring flooding in Minnesota.

Happy spring.