Gusty winds Sunday night with snow showers possible; cooler Monday

The sun made a brief appearance Sunday afternoon and it sure was a welcome change from the cloudy stretch that we’ve been in.

We should have more sunshine on Monday.

Sunday evening snow opportunity

A cold front will be moving through Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday night. That front will combine with an upper level disturbance to generate some areas of snow showers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday evening. Parts of southern Minnesota could also see some sprinkles Sunday evening.

Gusty winds are also expected through Sunday evening into early Monday, with gusts between 35 and 45 mph in some areas. Snow amounts are generally expected to be fairly light, but gusty winds could cause reduced visibilities in areas that do see some snow.

Here’s the snow outlook for northern Minnesota and portions of northern Wisconsin:

The lake-enhanced snow near the south shore of Lake Superior will continue into Monday.

Snow amounts in central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin are expected to be one-half inch or less Sunday evening. A coating of snow is possible in parts of the Twin Cities metro area and in portions of southern Minnesota.

A wind advisory covers much of southern Minnesota from 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. Sunday evening to 5 a.m. Monday:

The wind advisory starts at 9 p.m. Sunday and runs to 6 a.m. Monday in much of southeastern Minnesota.

Here are details of the wind advisory that includes Mankato, Redwood Falls and Albert Lea:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 543 PM CST Sun Dec 17 2023 MNZ064-073-074-082>085-091>093-181100- /O.EXT.KMPX.WI.Y.0008.231218T0200Z-231218T1100Z/ Yellow Medicine-Redwood-Brown-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca-Steele- Martin-Faribault-Freeborn- Including the cities of Waseca, New Ulm, St James, Granite Falls, Redwood Falls, Blue Earth, Fairmont, Mankato, Albert Lea, and Owatonna 543 PM CST Sun Dec 17 2023 ...WIND ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM CST MONDAY... * WHAT...Northwest winds around 30 mph with gusts near 45 mph tonight. * WHERE...Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Freeborn, Martin, Steele, Waseca, Watonwan, Redwood, and Yellow Medicine Counties. * WHEN...Until 5 AM CST Monday. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. 

Updated forecast info will be posted by the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Sioux Falls and Grand Forks.

Winds lighten up by Monday afternoon

Forecast maps for Monday show a high pressure system moving closer to us by afternoon, so our winds will lighten up by then.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern and surface pressure pattern from 5 a.m. Monday to 5 p.m. Monday:

Most of Minnesota will be dry during the daylight hours of Monday and some sunshine is expected.

Temperature trends

The Sunday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 38 degrees. That was 10 degrees warmer than the average Twin Cities high temp on Dec. 17. Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin had Sunday highs in the 30s.

Cooler highs, in the 20s, are on tap for Monday:

Far northern Minnesota could see some upper teens.

The official Twin Cities temp could be close to 30 degrees around 1 a.m. Monday, but temps are expected to hover in the 20s during the daylight hours of Monday.

Temps rebound Tuesday afternoon, with highs in the 30s in many locations:

A few spots in southwestern Minnesota could top 40 degrees.

Wednesday highs reach the lower 40s in the Twin Cities metro area and in southern Minnesota, with mainly 30s elsewhere:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 40s on Thursday and Friday.

Above-normal temperatures may linger next weekend and into the start of the following week. Here’s the temperature outlook for Dec. 23 through Dec. 27, from the NWS Climate Prediction Center:

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.