20s Sunday afternoon; 30s to start the week

I can't think of anyone who enjoys sub-zero temps.

Saturday morning's low of -11 completed a stretch of 9 consecutive days with below-zero low temps in the Twin Cities metro area.

It's time for the arctic chill to move out of Minnesota.

We're ready for a return to "average" Minnesota temperatures.

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Maybe even a few degrees above average!

Temperature trends

Highs will reach the 20s in most of Minnesota on Sunday, with some 30s in the southwest.

I'm expecting Sunday highs in the upper 20s in the Twin Cities metro area, which is a few degrees above our average Jan. 7 high of 23 degrees.

We haven't seen a high in the 20s in the metro area since Dec. 24.

The southern half of Minnesota should see highs in the low to mid 30s on Monday:

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We haven't seen a high in the 30s in the Twin Cities since Dec. 19.

Similar highs are expected on Tuesday, with some 30s spreading into northwestern Minnesota:

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Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to reach the upper 30s on Wednesday, and a few spots in the metro could touch 40.

Metro area highs are expected to be in the teens on Thursday and Friday.

Snow chances

The northern half of Minnesota could see some periods of light snow Saturday night and Sunday, with patchy freezing drizzle also possible.

Some spots in far northeastern Minnesota, up toward Grand Marais, could see an inch or two of snow.

Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area could see scattered light snow showers or flurries Saturday night. A bit of patchy freezing drizzle cannot be ruled out.

Minnesota weather updates can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you can see weather updates on the MPR news live weather blog.

Our main weather event could happen late Wednesday into Thursday.

There's the potential for rain or a rain/snow mix late Wednesday that would change to all snow at some point Wednesday night and continue into Thursday.

Wednesday and Thursday are several days away, so it isn't surprising to see disagreement between various forecast models on the track of this potential snowmaker.

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

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

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

If the GFS model pans out, we could see several inches of snow in much of southern, central and northeastern Minnesota Wednesday night into Thursday.

We'll keep you updated.

Snow deficit

Here's where we stand on season snowfall to date in the Twin Cities, St. Cloud and Eau Claire, Wisconsin:

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NWS Twin Cities

Kids with sleds are probably hoping for some flakes!

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.