Mild weekend temperatures with areas of morning fog; snow chance far north on Sunday

Parts of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin saw areas of dense fog and freezing fog early Saturday morning. That fog will burn off by late morning.

Many of us had much less fog, so we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise:

It’ll be an enjoyable Saturday afternoon across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Temperature trends

Saturday highs will be mainly in the upper 30s in northern and central Minnesota, although a few spots in north-central and northeastern Minnesota could touch 40. Highs in the lower 40s are forecast for much of southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Our average Twin Cities high temp is only 31 degrees this time of year, so a high in the lower 40s would be well above average.

Sunday highs will be mainly in the 30s:

If the wind-shift slows just a bit, we may touch 40 in parts of the Twin Cities metro area Sunday afternoon.

Sunday afternoon wind-chills will be mainly in the 20s, with some teens in the northwest:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 30s Monday and Tuesday, followed by highs in the upper 20s Wednesday, lower 20s Thursday and upper 20s Friday.

Rain or snow?

Far northern Minnesota may see a few flurries or light snow showers on Sunday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Sunday and Sunday evening:

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Snow depths

If you have outdoor plans this weekend, you’ll be happy to know that there’s plenty of snow on the ground across most of Minnesota. Here’s the latest snow depth map, courtesy of the Minnesota State Climatology Office and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:

Much of northern Minnesota has 18 inches or more of snow cover, and parts of northeastern Minnesota have more than 30 inches of snow on the ground. Portions of south-central and southeastern Minnesota have over 12 inches of snow cover.

The official Twin Cities snow depth was 8 inches this Saturday morning. Our snow cover will shrink a bit during the afternoon hours this weekend, but we’re starting out with plenty of snow cover in most areas.

I’ll bet that many cross-country skiers, sledders, snowboarders and snowmobilers will be having fun outdoors this weekend!

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.