Update on Saturday snow chances; plenty of sun for New Year's Day
Temperatures will retreat a bit
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It was a sun-splashed Friday with unusually mild temps.
The Twin Cities metro area, plus much of southern and west-central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin, saw high temps in the 40s. There were mainly 30s in northern Minnesota.
The Friday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 42 degrees. That was well above the average Dec. 29 Twin Cities high of 25 degrees. Temps will retreat a bit this weekend.
Temperature trends
Saturday highs will be in the 20s across much of northern Minnesota and parts of central Minnesota, with lower 30s elsewhere:
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Sunday highs will be in the 20s across much of Minnesota, with lower 30s from the Twin Cities into southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:
Highs on New Year’s Day will be mainly in the lower 30s, with a few spots reaching the middle 30s:
We’re expecting plenty of sunshine on New Year’s Day.
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the mid-30s on Tuesday and in the lower 30s Wednesday, followed by upper 20s on Thursday and around 30 degrees on Friday.
Snow opportunity
A low-pressure system is expected to spread light snow into northwestern and north-central Minnesota Saturday morning. The snow coverage is expected to expand into central and northeastern Minnesota Saturday afternoon.
Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin can expect periods of light snow Saturday evening.
Snow tapers off from west to east late Saturday night into early Sunday. Light snow showers could continue until later Sunday morning in parts of southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 4 a.m. Saturday through noon on Sunday:
How much snow?
One inch or less of snow is expected this weekend across much of Minnesota plus west-central Wisconsin. Southwestern Minnesota could see just a light coating of snow.
The Twin Cities metro area appears to have a shot at one-half inch to 1 inch of snow, mainly Saturday evening.
Parts of northwestern Wisconsin could see a couple inches of snow this weekend:
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network.
Updated forecast information will be posted by the National Weather Service offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D., and Grand Forks, N.D.
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.