Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Warm storm: Mostly rain with some sloppy snow north

Friday brought another day in the 40s for southern Minnesota

Snowfall projection for Minnesota
Snowfall projection for Minnesota
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Dec. 15 has been an eventfully weird weather day for the past few years.

Dec. 15, 2021, brought the latest tornadoes on record to Minnesota. A serial derecho dropped 94 tornadoes across the Upper Midwest that day.

December 15, 2021 tornado outbreak
Dec. 15, 2021 tornado outbreak
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Nine of those touched down in Minnesota. That broke the record for the latest tornadoes of the year in Minnesota by more than a month.

Fast-forward to Dec. 15, 2022. A slowly moving snowstorm dumped heavy snow across Minnesota for days that week. Parts of the North Shore picked up 2 feet of snow a year ago.

Now we find ourselves under an unusually warm storm on Dec. 15, 2023. This system is warm enough for mostly rain across most of Minnesota. Temperatures reached the 40s again across southern Minnesota Friday.

Temperatures Friday afternoon
Temperatures Friday afternoon
Oklahoma Mesonet

A couple of inches of sloppy snow are likely across northern and central Minnesota by Saturday.

Precipitation tapers off Saturday, and then colder breezes kick in on Sunday and Monday. Highs will finally plunge closer to normal in the 20s.

Forecast high temperatures Monday
Forecast high temperatures Monday
NOAA

After a chilly start next week, highs will push back toward 40 degrees again in southern Minnesota.

Forecast high temperatures Thursday
Forecast high temperatures Thursday
NOAA

Rain still looks possible in the days before Christmas.

Stay tuned.