Heavy snow south; let the warmup begin
The bulk of Wednesday's snow stayed south of the Twin Cites as expected. But the Interstate 90 corridor and northern Iowa got hammered with 5 inches to more than 10 inches of heavy, wet April snow.
Up to a foot of snow fell in northern Iowa.
High pressure returns
High pressure builds in over Minnesota Thursday. That brings more sunshine and milder temperatures. The next weather system likely steers south of Minnesota this weekend.
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Warmer days ahead
Temperatures are about to rise sharply to more spring-like levels in the next few days. Highs in the 60s are looking much more likely as early as Sunday.
Year to year
One thing about Minnesota weather is the high degree of variability. Because we live in the middle of a huge continent with few geographic obstructions, air masses sweep freely.
That old saying about nothing between Minnesota and the North Pole but a barbed-wire fence is true. That's one reason why we can have two so dramatically different Aprils in back to back years.
Record late ice-outs
As of April 18, all lakes in Minnesota still have ice. My local weather spies on Lake Minnetonka tell me there's still 2 feet of ice.
We're going to warm up dramatically in the next week. The snow will go fairly quickly, but I still think we're going to see record late ice-outs this year.