Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

April in March; warm temps linger through Tuesday

Has our snow season ended?

It’s very springy out there today! The 2021 snow melt continues.

Our average Twin Cities high temp is 37 degrees on March 7. Metro area temps will top out around 60 degrees this Sunday afternoon. 60 is our average Twin Cities high temp on April 19.

Sunday wind gusts will be in the 20 to 32 mph range in many areas, but gusts over 35 mph are possible in southwestern Minnesota.

Temperature trends

Our Monday high temp in the Twin Cities will be around 60. Monday highs will range from the low-to-mid 60s in southwestern Minnesota to upper 40s in northeastern Minnesota:

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Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Monday winds will be fairly light in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, but gusts of 12-16 mph are possible in far western Minnesota:

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Monday noon forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Plotted gusts are in knots, with 13 knots equal to around 15 mph.

Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 60s on Tuesday. Our Twin Cities record high for March 9 (Tuesday) is 61, so we have a good chance of breaking that daily record.  Metro area highs on Wednesday will be in the lower 50s, followed by highs in the upper 40s Thursday and Friday.

Any rain or snow?

Today through Tuesday look fairly dry. We’ll probably see some periods of rain Wednesday and Wednesday night. The Canadian forecast model (GEM, or Global Environmental Multiscale model) is showing the following precipitation pattern from Wednesday morning through Thursday morning:

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GEM model precipitation rate Wednesday through Thursday morning
Canadian Meteorological Centre, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Some flakes could mix with the rain in the metro area Wednesday evening, and parts of central and northern Minnesota could see snow or a mix of snow and rain Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.

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

Is our snow season over in the Twin Cities?

The short answer: probably not. The Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service ran the numbers on Twin Cities snow totals from March 7 through May 31:

We’ll keep you updated on when we may see some flakes. If you don’t want to see any more snow, keep in mind that any snow that falls in the Twin Cities this time of year typically melts within a few days.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

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