Chilly weekend; rain/snow mix possible on Sunday

Yes, it was a mostly chilly first half of April.

Our average Twin Cities temperature through the first 15 days of April was 4.5 degrees colder than normal.  The high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 61 degrees last Sunday and 60 on Monday, but we had highs in the 30s the past couple of days.

Saturday highs are forecast to reach the lower 40s in the Twin Cities. To put that in perspective, our average Twin Cities high is 57 degrees this time of year.  42 degrees is our average Twin Cities high temp on March 16.

Roughly the northern half of Minnesota can expect highs in the 30s this Saturday, with some lower 40s in the southern half of Minnesota. It’ll be a breezy day.

Temperature trends

Sunday highs will be mainly in the 30s in northern Minnesota, with 40s in east-central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Sunday afternoon wind gusts will be over 20 mph in 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 chances on Sunday

A low pressure system is expected to spread some snow into western Minnesota Sunday morning, then that precipitation may become a mix of rain and snow as it expands into eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday afternoon and evening.

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

NOAA’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows a similar pattern, but less of a mix and more snow in that same time period:

Northern Minnesota and parts of central Minnesota have the best chance of seeing a couple of inches of snow Sunday through Sunday night, with a coating of snow possible in the Twin Cities metro area.

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.

The Twin Cities metro area could also see a rain/snow mix late Tuesday into early Wednesday, then some rain Wednesday afternoon.

Ice is out

Lake Minnetonka ice-out was declared on Friday:

Recent and historic ice-out info is posted here by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

I noticed that the ice was gone from Lake Harriet in Minneapolis as I drove in that area on Tuesday.

Plenty of snow cover in northeastern Minnesota

If you still want to do some sledding, cross-country skiing or snowmobiling, you’ll be happy to know that there’s still plenty of snow on the ground in northeastern Minnesota and parts of north-central Minnesota.

The latest Minnesota snow depth map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office shows 12 to 18 inches of snow cover in most of Lake County and 18 to 24 inches of snow cover in much of Cook County in far northeastern Minnesota:

Weather nugget

Four years ago today, on April 16, 2018, we had 11 inches of snow cover in the Twin Cities. That snow melted in the following six days and the Twin Cities high was 71 degrees on April 23, 2018.  Snow melts quickly this time of year! 

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.