Chillier Thursday; April-like weekend coming
Chillier air blew from Manitoba into Minnesota overnight. By 7 a.m., the Twin Cities had cooled to 18 degrees, just below our normal low for this date.
Warroad, in far northwest Minnesota, had fallen to 6 below. That northwestern corner of the state might fail to warm beyond the single digits this afternoon.
The rest of Minnesota should see high temperatures from the teens in the north to the upper 20s in the south and about 30 degrees in the Twin Cities. The Twin Cities' normal high for today is 35.
A gusty breeze will add some bite to the air, especially this afternoon.
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A weak Alberta clipper will bring periods of light snow to southwestern Minnesota throughout the day.
Elsewhere
The massive outbreak of severe weather that spread from the middle of the country to the Mid-Atlantic states over the past two days has finally come to an end.
Red dots represent tornado reports, the many blue dots are for damaging winds and green dots identify damaging hail during the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m. Thursday morning.
The cold front, as identified by the long line of lightning, has moved offshore.
Milder Friday
Temperatures will recover a bit on Friday. Highs should range from the upper teens in the northeast to around 40 in the southwest. Yet another Alberta clipper will spread a few flurries across the state tomorrow.
Weekend warmup
Forecast models continue to predict much warmer temperatures for our weekend. Snow-covered areas might struggle a bit to warm quickly, but areas with bare ground will respond nicely to the southerly flow.
Saturday should bring highs of upper 30s to the northeast, 40s to most of the state and around 50 to the Twin Cities and other snow-free areas.
Sunday will really feel like April. Highs should reach the 40s even over much of the snow-covered north while 50s will dominate most of the state Sunday afternoon. I think that the metro area has a good chance of reaching 60 degrees on Sunday.
Thunderstorms Monday?
Very mild air will linger on Monday, but a cold front from the west will trigger rain showers. A few thunderstorms are likely as well, mainly across southern Minnesota Monday afternoon and evening.
Then cooler beginning on Tuesday
The cooler air behind the cold front will not be all that cold. In fact, temperatures should remain a bit warmer than normal.
