A messy weather mix for Monday
March certainly can produce wild swings in the weather in our part of the world. Snowstorms and severe thunderstorms with tornadoes can occur. Temperatures can be all up and down the thermometer. The record low and high temperatures for the Twin Cities on March 26 range from 10 below (1996) to a toasty 81 (2007).
March 2018 has been notable for some bands of heavy snow and also periods of icy mixed precipitation.
Overnight, a band of wet snow and mixed precipitation put down a soggy layer of white across the Twin Cities area. Snow stuck mainly to grassy areas and vehicles but also fell fast enough to accumulate temporarily on some streets and roads.
Now it is all tracking northward.
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Slightly cooler temperatures from central to northern Minnesota should allow wet snowfalls of a few inches Monday from Brainerd and Mille Lacs to Alexandria, Detroit Lakes, Bemidji, Duluth, the Iron Range and Ely.
Winter weather advisories for snow accumulations and some mixed precipitation have been posted until various times this evening and tonight for central to northern Minnesota.
Advisories in west central and southwestern Minnesota, generally west of a line from Little Falls to Fairmont, are for periods of freezing rain-drizzle and mixed precipitation. The precipitation should begin to change over to plain rain from the southwest this morning as temperatures warm above freezing.
The Twin Cities area should see occasional periods of mixed precipitation this morning, then a transition to all rain this afternoon.
High temperatures statewide should be mainly from the mid 30s to the low 40s Monday afternoon. The Twin Cities might reach about 41, cooler than the average high of 47 for this date. Winds will be light.
Sunny Tuesday
The sun should break Tuesday and temperatures will respond. Highs will be in the low to mid 40s in most areas, but probably stick in the upper 30s where snow cover persists.
Meanwhile, a developing storm in the South could produce severe storms and flooding.
Warmer Wednesday
Wednesday is likely to bring quite a few clouds, but a southerly push of air could warm the Twin Cities area to near 50 degrees in the afternoon.
Wintry end of the month?
Forecast models are showing a possible wintry mix in our area on Saturday, the last day of March. But that is five days out, so don't change any weekend plans yet.