Milder temps Sunday, 60s return on Monday
Dry weather for several days
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We’re expecting a dry weekend across Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 11 a.m. Saturday to 8 p.m. Sunday:
Dry weather is expected to linger into midweek in most of Minnesota, with rain chances returning to the south Thursday afternoon into early Friday.
We could see some rain and snow in portions of Minnesota next weekend.
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Drought update
The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report shows drought conditions over more than half of Minnesota, including the eastern portion of the Twin Cities metro area:
The areas that are shaded beige are in moderate drought, with severe drought depicted by the orange shades which include parts of northern Minnesota and far southeastern Minnesota. Areas that are shaded yellow are abnormally dry, but not yet in drought.
Much of Iowa and Wisconsin area also in drought right now, with extreme drought (red) in a large portion of eastern Iowa.
Temperature trends
The average Twin Cities high temperature is 38 degrees on March 9. Portions of the Twin Cities metro area will see Saturday highs in the lower 40s.
Saturday afternoon highs are expected to be in the lower 40s aross much of the southern half of Minnesota plus west-central Wisconsin, with mainly 30s in northern Minnesota. It’ll be breezy in eastern and southern Minnesota plus western Wisconsin today.
Sunday high temps will be in the 50s across most of the southern half of Minnesota and in the Red River Valley of northwestern Minnesota, with mainly 40s elsewhere in Minnesota and in west-central Wisconsin:
An approaching low-pressure system could bring wind gusts of 15-22 mph to far western Minnesota Sunday afternoon:
Monday high temps reach the 70s in southwestern Minnesota, with 60s elsewhere in the southern half of Minnesota:
Most of northern Minnesota will have Monday highs in the 50s.
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be in the lower 60s on Tuesday, then around 60 degrees Wednesday followed by mid 50s Thursday and upper 40s on Friday. Highs in the 40s could then linger through next weekend.
Temperatures could remain near normal into the start of the following week. Here’s the March 16 through March 22 temperature outlook from the NWS Climate Prediction Center
Spring ahead
Daylight saving time returns at 2 a.m. Sunday. If you have any watches or clocks that don’t automatically adjust, you might want to turn them ahead one hour before you go to sleep Saturday night. Sunset time in the Twin Cities will be at 7:13 p.m. on Sunday.
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.