Spring Fever: Record February warmth Friday

Atmospheric time warp

The weather's gravitational field is bending the calendar this month. Bank thermometers flash April-like temperatures this weekend. Records will fall. Outdoor patios will open, in February. Long lines may form at your local Dairy Queen.

Yes weather fans, it will be warmer in the Twin Cities Friday than in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.. A prime opportunity the weather-shame your friends in La La Land.

Records will likely fall Friday and Monday in the Twin Cities. More overnight "high record minimums" may fall this weekend.

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Family of warm fronts

As storms pound the West Coast, multiple warm fronts sail toward Minnesota this weekend.

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NOAA

Yellow is the color of choice on the temperatures maps this weekend. Watch as temps pushing 60 degrees pulse each afternoon in southern Minnesota. That's 30 degrees warmer than average for mid-February folks.

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Canadian GEM model 2-meter temps via tropical tidbits.

Extreme warmth for February

This is not your garden variety February thaw. The mercury has only hit 60 degrees 4 times in the Twin Cities since 1873. We could do it twice in the next 4 days. Perspective. Context.

Fast forward weather: April-like showers Monday

The weekend looks dry. Then an unseasonably mild spring-like low pressure system brings April-like showers by Monday. Welcome to Ap-ruary, our latest alternative weather reality in a changing climate system. Fast forward your internal weather DVR two months this weekend.

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NOAA GFS model via tropical tidbits.

Rumors of snow?

Both the Euro (ECMWF) and GFS models have been teasing out chances for snow next Friday. It's too early to pick out the precise forecast signal from the model noise, but the snowy blips keep showing up. Here's NOAA's GFS model. Buyer beware this far out.

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NOAA GFS model late next week via tropical tidbits.

Can a late February snow storm save the Prince?

The late Tony Wise who looked to his Norwegian heritage and patterned the ski marathon after the Birkebeiner Rennet, which had been held in Norway since 1932, founded the American Birkebeiner in 1973. Both events honor and re-create a historic Norwegian event when in 1206, two warrior soldiers, called “Birkebeiners” because of the birch-bark leggings they wore, skied infant Prince Haakon to safety during the Norwegian civil war. Prince Haakon subsequently became King of Norway, and the Birkebeiner soldiers became a Norwegian symbol of courage, perseverance and character in the face of adversity.

Be brave, and stay tuned.