Windy and cool today, then warming

Snow fell on much of Minnesota during the overnight hours, but above-freezing air temperatures and warm ground melted most of it rather quickly. Early this morning a large area of mixed rain, snow and drizzle lingers over northeastern Minnesota and the nearby south shore of Wisconsin.

Temperatures generally warmed a bit overnight as milder air worked its way southward across the state and changed the falling snow over to a rain/snow mix or even all rain. In the 5 a.m. weather observations from the National Weather Service, Baudette up in the northwest was the hot spot with 45 degrees while chilly Preston in the southeast corner was just 34 degrees.

The precipitation was widespread and gentle, so it soaked in nicely to benefit lawns, trees and agricultural soil moisture in general. Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport has received about three quarters of an inch while St. Cloud measured 1.4 inches.

The other good news is that we are getting our strongest winds of the day early this morning. Expect chilly gusts throughout the daylight hours, but at least they will be diminishing very gradually.

The strong winds are shifting eastward along with the weather system causing them. As a result, gale warnings have been posted for all five Great Lakes. Sometimes the gales of November come early.

Precipitation should end statewide this morning and then give way to a cloudy afternoon. Highs will be just in the 40s.

Yet another warmup will begin tomorrow as milder air heads our way from the southwest.

The Twin Cities will warm to the upper 50s on Sunday, November 1.

Then a surging warm front will turn Monday into quite a treat.

Check out these forecast high temperatures for Monday.

As for precipitation, the best chance of more rain will be across southern and east central Minnesota into western Wisconsin Friday night into Saturday.