Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Mild Sunday temps; cold front brings flake chance later today

Gusty winds Sunday evening

We’ll have mild temps today; colder air sweeps in this evening and overnight.

Above-normal temps

The average Dec. 17 Twin Cities high temperature is 28 degrees. Metro area highs are forecast to reach the upper 30s to around 40 this Sunday.

Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see Sunday highs in the 30s, with lower 40s possible in far southern Minnesota:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Far northwestern Minnesota could see highs in the upper 20s.

Gusty winds later today

A cold front will spread cooler air into Minnesota later today, and the winds will pick up.

Here are temperature and wind forecasts for northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

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Temps and wind forecast today and Monday
National Weather Service

Here are wind gust forecasts elsewhere in Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

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Forecast Wind gusts Sunday & Monday
National Weather Service

Winds will really crank up Sunday evening in the Twin Cities, with gusty winds lingering into Monday morning.

Flake chances

Parts of northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin are seeing patchy light snow showers Sunday morning. Those snow showers could mix with sprinkles in parts of northwestern Wisconsin.

A cold front and upper level disturbance will combine to bring areas of light snow to northern Minnesota Sunday afternoon. Some snow showers could spread into central Minnesota by late afternoon and into the Twin Cities metro area and southern Minnesota by Sunday evening. The metro area and southern Minnesota plus west-central Wisconsin could also see a few sprinkles early Sunday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from noon Sunday to 11 p.m. Sunday:

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NAM simulated radar noon Sunday to 11 p.m. Sunday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid-Refresh (HRRR) model shows a similar precipitation pattern:

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HRRR simulated radar noon Sunday to 11 p.m. Sunday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Some snow squalls are possible in parts of northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin later today:

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Snow squalls possible late Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening
National Weather Service

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 CitiesDuluthLa CrosseSioux Falls and Grand Forks.

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.