Chilly Sunday; Periods of snow or a mix, with the heaviest snow in northern Minnesota

The Saturday sunshine was great, but our temperatures were chilly for mid-April.

The high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Saturday afternoon was 43 degrees. That’s well shy of our average April 16 high of 57 degrees.

Temperature trends

Sunday highs will be in the 30s in much of northern Minnesota, with 40s to the south and also in western Wisconsin:

Sunday afternoon wind gusts will be over 25 mph in parts of far western Minnesota:

Plotted forecast gusts are in knots, with 20 knots equal to 23 mph.

Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the lower 40s on Monday, followed by mid 40s Tuesday and lower 50s Wednesday. It warms up even more after that, with Thursday highs in the upper 50s, followed by mid 60s on Friday.

Rain and snow potential

A low pressure system is expected to spread snow across much of western Minnesota during the morning hours of Sunday. The precipitation area is likely to expand eastward Sunday afternoon and evening, changing to a rain/snow mix in many areas (including the Twin Cities), then the mix will transition back to mostly snow Sunday night.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid-Refresh (HRRR) model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 7 a.m. Sunday to noon on Monday:

NOAA’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows more extensive coverage, with less of a mix and more snow, during that same time period:

How much snow?

Some spots northern Minnesota could see several inches of snow Sunday and Sunday night. Here’s the snow outlook for northwestern Minnesota plus North Dakota:

Areas near Lake Superior could also see some heavier snow, especially Sunday evening into Monday morning:

A winter storm watch starts at 7 p.m. on Sunday and runs 1 p.m. Monday in the portion of Minnesota within the yellow outline on the graphic. Here are details of the winter storm watch:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Duluth MN 247 PM CDT Sat Apr 16 2022 MNZ020-021-170800- /O.NEW.KDLH.WS.A.0008.220418T0000Z-220418T1800Z/ Southern Lake-Southern Cook- Including the cities of Two Harbors, Silver Bay, and Grand Marais 247 PM CDT Sat Apr 16 2022 ...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 8 inches possible. * WHERE...Southern Lake and Southern Cook Counties. This includes the Tribal Lands of the Grand Portage Reservation. * WHEN...From Sunday evening through Monday afternoon. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning commute. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates may exceed 1 inch per hour at times late Sunday evening into early Monday morning. This may lead to very low visibilities and roads becoming quickly snow covered. The heaviest snow is expected along the higher elevations of the North Shore away from Lake Superior.

The Twin Cities metro area can expect less than one inch of snow late Sunday through Sunday night, and parts of the metro area might see just a coating of snow on grassy areas. The metro area could also see a bit of rain and snow Tuesday night, followed by periods of rain on Wednesday.

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

Think spring

Think of the snowflakes and the chilly temps as speed bumps on the road to spring. This pic might help you look ahead to spring:

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.