Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Above-normal temps will linger; chance of light snow northern Minn. Sat. night

Ice safety reminder

This feels more like February.

Twin Cities high temperatures were more typical of April than February on several days this past week. That extreme warmth is gone, but our weekend temps will be several degrees warmer than normal.

The average Twin Cities high temp is 27 degrees on Feb. 10. Metro area highs are expected to reach the mid 30s Saturday afternoon. Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see Saturday highs in the 30s. Most of the northern third of Minnesota will have highs in the 20s.

Sunday high temps will be in the 30s in many locations, with some lower 40s in southwestern Minnesota and 20s in the far north:

rt0211h12
Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Monday high temps will be mainly in the 30s, with some upper 20s in far northern Minnesota:

rt0212h12
Monday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 40 degrees on Monday, followed by lower 40s Tuesday and Wednesday then mid 30s Thursday and mid 20s on Friday.

Flake chances north

Northeastern Minnesota could see spotty flurries Saturday morning and early Saturday afternoon.

An upper level disturbance will bring a chance of light snow showers to northwestern Minnesota late Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening. Patchy light snow showers are possible in roughly the northern third of Minnesota overnight Saturday night.

The chance of light snow showers lingers into Sunday morning in northeastern Minnesota and in parts of northwestern Wisconsin.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 6 p.m. Saturday to noon on Sunday:

rt0210rad3
Simulated radar 6 p.m. Saturday to noon on Sunday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

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 CitiesDuluthLa Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D. and Grand Forks, N.D.

Ice safety

rt0206harr
Feb. 6, 2024 Lake Harriet, Minneapolis
Ron Trenda/MPR News

Minnesota had several days with very warm temps this past week, so ice conditions deteriorated on our lakes. This is a good time for a reminder about ice safety.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has plenty of information on ice safety, including these guidelines:

rt0127ice safety
Ice safety guidlines
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

According to the DNR:

Many factors other than thickness affect ice strength, including air temperature, wind, snow, streams, narrow areas or bottlenecks, sun, shade, fish communities, plant decay, and more. When a layer of snow melts and refreezes on top of lake ice, it creates white ice, only about half as strong as new, clear ice. Double the above thickness guidelines when traveling on white ice.

Addition information on lake ice can be found here.

Weather nugget

The official Twin Cities high temperature (measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) was 50 degrees or warmer on five of the first eight days this February. The Twin Cities high temperature didn’t reach 50 degrees or warmer in any of the previous six Februaries.

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.