Milder Thursday; thawing Friday; colder with areas of snow for Christmas weekend
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The weather pattern has become more active in terms of both precipitation and temperature swings. Light freezing drizzle is spreading eastward across west central Wisconsin this Thursday morning. Sunshine is breaking out for the Twin Cities area and southern Minnesota while light snow will linger across northeastern Minnesota for much of the day.
Much milder temperatures are on tap. Expect high temperatures from the mid 20s up north to 30s over most of the state and low 40s in the balmy southwest. The Twin Cities will have a sunny afternoon with a high around 38 and just a light breeze.
Northern Minnesota will be doing weather flip-flops the next few days as well. The Duluth National Weather Service Office delightfully refers to this pattern as riding the weather train.
Balmy Christmas Eve day
Friday will start out with mixed precipitation north of the Twin Cities, possibly extending up to near the Canadian border, early in the day. The Twin Cities area will have just a slight chance of light rain or light freezing rain. Thawing temperatures will prevail in the afternoon. Highs should range from the mid-30s in the north to mid-40s in the south. The Twin Cities should warm to about 43 degrees and might even flirt with the record high of 46.
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Colder with snow for the weekend
Temperatures are generally less difficult to forecast than precipitation during the cold season. So I am quite confident that colder weather will arrive for the weekend. Highs on Christmas day should range from the single digits in northwest Minnesota and teens across the rest of the north to 20s for most of the state and 30s in the southeast such as Rochester and Winona.
Precipitation forecasts are often fuzzier. It does seem likely that light snow should spread across Minnesota on Christmas Day. Amounts are less certain but a few inches are possible for the northern half of the state.
Heavier snow is likely to be more widespread on Sunday. Plowable snow might bring a base of fresh snow for new sleds, skis and snowmobiles to central and northern Minnesota.
Rather cold after Monday
Monday might be slightly warmer than average for late December. Then a push of colder air will move in and linger for much of the week.
