A few record highs to the north on Saturday; mild temps across most of Minn. for Sunday

The high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 43 degrees Saturday afternoon. That was 16 degrees warmer than  our average Dec. 15 Twin Cities high temp of 27 degrees, but it was well short of our record high of 51 degrees.

A few high temperature records were broken in parts of northern Minnesota.

New record highs for Dec. 15 were set in International Falls, (47 degrees), Brainerd (48 degrees) and Hibbing (44 degrees).

It was quite a bit cooler in portions of southern Minnesota, due to snow cover that remains from the snowstorm that hit two weeks ago; Mankato topped out at 38 degrees on Saturday, and Rochester topped out at 37 degrees.

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Saturday's sunshine felt great all across Minnesota!

Temperature trends

Sunday highs will be in the 30s across much of Minnesota, but temperatures could dip into the 20s in parts of the northwest by afternoon.

A few spots in west-central and southwestern Minnesota could see highs in the lower 40s, and the Twin Cities metro area should top out around 40.

On Monday, highs in the 20s are expected in northern Minnesota, with 30s central and south:

rt1217h

Twin Cities metro highs will reach the lower 30s on Monday, then we could hit 40 degrees on Tuesday. Projected metro area highs are in the upper 30s on Wednesday, followed by low to mid 30s for Thursday and Friday.

Snow chances

Snow lovers will have to be patient.

There aren't any big snowstorms in sight for the coming week. Parts of Minnesota could see a mix of rain showers and snow showers Wednesday and Wednesday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern Wednesday through Wednesday evening:

rt1215rad2
NOAA GFS precipitation rate (mm/hour) Wednesday through Wednesday evening, via tropicaltidbits

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the precipitation rate (mm per hour), not to the total amount of rain or snow.

As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you will also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

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.