Some weekend flakes at times; warming trend just days away

Snow lovers will take advantage of our typical March weather this weekend.

Those of us who are itching for green grass and the start of the golf season will have to be patient.

Temperature trends

Our Saturday afternoon highs are expected to reach the 30s over most of Minnesota.

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The Twin Cities metro area will probably top out in the upper 30s.

Similar high temps are on tap for Sunday:

rt3011h2

Twin Cities metro area highs will be in the upper 30s Monday and Tuesday, followed by lower 40s on Wednesday.

As our snow cover shrinks, highs reach the upper 40s on Thursday, and lower 50s on Friday.

By the way, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model now shows a Minneapolis high of "only" 54 degrees on Friday, March 16.

Yesterday, the ECMWF model was showing a high of about 62 degrees on March 16.

Snow opportunities

Some of us will see light snow showers this Saturday, possibly mixed with a bit of light rain at times.

Periods of light snow are a good bet for most of Minnesota Saturday night and early Sunday, with a chance of light snow lingering into Sunday afternoon in southeastern Minnesota.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Saturday afternoon through Sunday:

rt0310rad
NOAA NAM simulated radar from Saturday afternoon through Sunday, via tropicaltidbits

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 snow or rain.

The Twin Cities metro area will probably see less than one inch of snow this weekend, but one to two inches could accumulate in parts of western and southern Minnesota:

Here's the NWS snow projection:

rt310snow
NWS Twin Cities

Updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you can also find updated weather information on the MPR news live weather blog.

How fast do we warm up? 

I was curious to see how fast our average high temps warm up in the Twin Cities metro area.

Our average Twin Cities high temp reaches:

  • 50 degrees on April 1

  • 60 degrees on April 19

  • 70 degrees on May 17

Some years, we see our first 50, 60 or 70 degree readings much sooner than those average high temp dates.  Last year we hit 63 degrees in the Twin Cities on February 17!

Spring forward

Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. this Sunday.

Set clocks ahead one hour before going to bed Saturday night.

rt3010dayl
NWS La Crosse, WI

It’s probably a good thing that our smartphones and laptops do the time change automatically!

Our Twin Cities sunset on Sunday: 7:14 p.m. CDT

You can check the U.S. Naval Observatory charts for sunrise and sunset on any day of the year.

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