Spring fever: Sunshine and 70s arrive

The season formerly known as spring is here to stay.

Lazy mild high pressure builds over Minnesota the next few days. Southerly breezes push the mercury into the almost balmy range. Prepare to enjoy some of the finest weather of the year in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

• -6.0 degrees temps vs. average so far in April at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

• 57 degrees average high at MSP today.

• 65 to 75 degrees high at MSP today through Saturday.

• 10 to 18 degrees warmer than average next four days in most of Minnesota

• Aug. 27 -- equivalent sun angle and intensity today above Minnesota.

Best weather of the year?

All weather is relative. One person's weather trash is another's weather treasure. A Saturday soaking in late July drenches your outdoor family reunion, and puts a thirsty crop in the bank for your local farmer.

So when I say this may be the "best" weather of the year please know I am speaking for a likely majority of Minnesotans. Bright sun. Temps near 70. No mosquitoes. Greening grass. If you have a pulse and live in Minnesota you probably agree it doesn't get much better than this.

Anatomy of a warm front

Low pressure and showers gather in the Dakotas as southerly winds feed warmth into Minnesota the next few days.

Unfamiliar yet welcome shades of yellow and red appear on the weather maps this week. Check out temperatures by tomorrow, as the mercury pushes 70 in the metro and closer to 80 in western Minnesota. You may even be dancing the jig in the streets of Duluth as the thermometer hits 60.

Here's a snap shot of the (metro) forecast for the next few days. Just. Wow.

Here to stay?

The longer range models suggest that spring may stick this time. Temps cool a few degrees early next week, then another push into the 70s by the weekend of April 23? That's the week 2 output from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Forecast System model.

NOAA's experimental week 3-4 product favors continues warmer than average temps overall into early May.

Bring on the lilacs?

Ice out stalls

Our unseasonable warmth in February and early march produced record or near record ice out dates across southern Minnesota. But the colder than average subfreezing weather the past few weeks has stalled ice out in central Minnesota the past two weeks. Check the ice status of your favorite lakes here from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

NASA's MODIS Terra 250 meter resolution shot shows a mix of open water and ice across northern Minnesota.

This week's warm up, and brisk southerly winds should resume the process of taking out more lakes north of Brainerd, Minn.