Windy and warm today; cooling trend and turning wet this week
Wind advisory includes parts of the metro area this Sunday
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Don’t spend a lot of time combing your hair before you head outside today. Winds will be very gusty through the afternoon.
Winds will gust to 40 mph or higher at times in the metro area and southern Minnesota:
Wind advisories continue until 4 p.m. this Sunday in Hennepin County plus the south metro and much of southern Minnesota:
Here are details of the wind advisory:
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URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 817 AM CDT Sun Mar 21 2021 MNZ060-066>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-212100- /O.CON.KMPX.WI.Y.0003.210321T1400Z-210321T2100Z/ Hennepin-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota-Redwood-Brown-Nicollet- Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca-Steele-Martin- Faribault-Freeborn- Including the cities of Minneapolis, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Shakopee, Hastings, Redwood Falls, New Ulm, St Peter, Le Sueur, Faribault, Red Wing, St James, Mankato, Waseca, Owatonna, Fairmont, Blue Earth, and Albert Lea 817 AM CDT Sun Mar 21 2021 ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON... * WHAT...South winds 30 to 35 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected. * WHERE...Portions of central, east central, south central, southeast and southwest Minnesota. * WHEN...From 9 AM this morning to 4 PM CDT this afternoon. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.
Sunday rain chances
Scattered showers are expected to develop in western Minnesota early Sunday afternoon, then spread eastward through the remainder of the afternoon and into Sunday evening. Our rain shower chance in the metro area appears to be from late afternoon into early Sunday evening.
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.
Temperature trends
Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 44 degrees on March 21. Parts of the metro area will top out in the lower 60s this Sunday afternoon. Highs in the 50s are expected across much of Minnesota, with lower 60s from the metro area into southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
Highs in the 40s are expected in northern Minnesota on Monday, with 50s to the south:
Monday wind gusts will be fairly light, in the 8-12 mph range:
Plotted gusts are in knots, with 8 knots equal to slightly over 9 mph.
Back to temperatures, Twin Cities highs are projected to reach the lower 50s Tuesday, followed by mid 40s Wednesday and Thursday and upper 40s on Friday.
Sunday rain chances
A low pressure system will spin moisture over Minnesota and western Wisconsin Monday evening into Tuesday, and the precipitation will continue through much of Wednesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern for Monday evening through Tuesday evening:
The rain may mix with snow or turn to mostly snow from west-central Minnesota into northern Minnesota Tuesday p.m. into Wednesday. Check forecast updates.
Many areas can expect anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of precipitation (rain plus the water content of any snow) from Monday evening through Wednesday:
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.