Mild Thursday afternoon, then rain-snow showers; snow Friday night
The Wednesday afternoon high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 43 degrees. It was our warmest official Twin Cities high temp since Nov. 6, and our snow cover shrank.
Many of us can now see our lawns!
Temperature trends
Thursday afternoon highs are expected to range from the 30s in northern Minnesota to 40s in the south. A few spots in southwestern Minnesota could top 50 degrees.
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Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to reach the upper 40s.
In case you're wondering, our average high this time of year is 41 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area.
On Friday, northern Minnesota should top out in the 20s, with 30s south:
Saturday will be chilly, with teens north and 20s south:
Sunday highs will range from the teens in far northern Minnesota to the lower 30s in the far south.
The metro area could reach 30 degrees.
Let's look ahead to Thanksgiving, which is one week from today.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts shows highs in the 40s (Fahrenheit) for the Twin Cities metro area next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday:
The dark red numbers are my conversions to the nearest degree Fahrenheit of the European Centre's Celsius numbers. The European model isn't showing any rain or snow next Wednesday through Friday.
We'll keep you posted as we get closer to Thanksgiving.
Snow potential
A mix of rain showers and snow showers is expected to spread from northern Minnesota into central Minnesota later this Thursday afternoon and into southern Minnesota this evening.
In the Twin Cities metro area, our rain chance is late afternoon/early evening, with a changeover to a rain/snow mix and eventually all snow later this evening.
Minor snow accumulations of one-half inch or less will be possible in the metro area later this evening.
A more significant area of snow moves into central and southern Minnesota Friday afternoon and Friday evening.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Thursday afternoon through Friday evening:
The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of rain or snow.
Here's the National Weather Service depiction of potential snowfall Friday afternoon through Friday evening:
This morning's run of the NAM model indicates that the Twin Cities metro area could see a couple of inches of snow Friday evening. I'm hoping that the next run of the NAM dials that back a bit.
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.