Shower chance Friday night and Saturday, Sunday sunshine

You'll really appreciate the power of our late March sunshine when you take a peek at today's satellite loop.

Notice how the northern edge of the snow that fell on Wednesday steadily melted as we went through the afternoon:

RT324satl1
College of DuPage

Many people went to work this morning with a few inches of snow cover and are returning home to bare lawns.  Even the area from Mankato, Minn., eastward saw rapid snow melt this afternoon.

When you are ready for spring never get discouraged by late March snows, they don't last very long!

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Sun, then clouds Friday

You can expect a lot of sunshine early Friday over eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with some clouds moving in late in the day.

High will be near normal:

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Rain and snow possible Friday night and Saturday

We could see some rain showers at times from Friday evening into Saturday, as a low pressure system moves across the upper Midwest:

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Northern and central  Minnesota could see some minor snow accumulation Friday night and Saturday, and we could even see a few flakes mixed with rain in the Twin Cities metro area early Saturday morning.

Dry on Sunday

Our Easter Sunday will feature a lot of sunshine, and typical March high temperatures:

rt327h2

Those attending a sunrise service on Sunday can expect early morning temps in the upper 20s over much of southern Minnesota, with upper teens in the north.

Warmer to start next week

Highs warm into the 50s next Monday through Wednesday:

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Global Forecast System Data, via Weatherspark

We could see some showers and isolated thunderstorms on Wednesday.

European forecast model vs GFS

Updraft this week noted the differences in snow forecasts between the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Forecast System model.

Friday at 10 a.m. on Weather Lab, MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner and guests will discuss the reasons for those forecast model differences. Tune in to Minnesota Public Radio Friday morning or check out the podcast!