A cloudy weekend, with rain and flakes at times; Election Day weather update

Most Minnesotans won't need their sunglasses this weekend.

November is typically our cloudiest month of the year in the Twin Cities metro area, so the shroud of clouds shouldn't be too surprising.

Rain and snow chances

The best chance of rain Saturday afternoon will be from southwestern through southeastern Minnesota.

Central Minnesota could see scattered rain showers, possibly mixed with flakes at times.

A few showers could drift over the southwestern part of the Twin Cities metro area early Saturday afternoon , then the entire metro will have a chance of scattered mid to late afternoon showers.

Periods of rain are likely Saturday evening and overnight Saturday night in about the southern half of Minnesota, as well as parts of western Wisconsin. The rain is expected to mix with wet snow at times overnight and spread northeastward, continuing as a mix on Sunday.

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

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 rain or snow.

It'll probably rain and snow in some areas that look dry in the NAM loop, but the loop illustrates the overall precipitation pattern.

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

There could be some snow accumulation on grassy areas Saturday night and Sunday:

The counties featured in the graphic above are the counties for which the NWS Twin Cities office issues forecasts.

Temperature trends

Saturday afternoon highs are expected to reach the lower 40s in most of Minnesota, with some upper 30s in the far north. Our average high temp is 49 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area this time of year.

Sunday highs will range from the upper 30s to lower 40s:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the middle 40s on Monday, followed by lower 40s Tuesday and around 40 on Wednesday. We could top out in the upper 30s on Thursday and Friday.

Election  Day weather

As you probably know, Election Day is this coming Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Highs in the lower 40s will be common across southern Minnesota on Tuesday, with some 30s in the north:

It looks like eastern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, will have a chance of showers Tuesday morning. There could be some snow showers in the northeast.

Turn back the clocks

Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday:

Our smartphones typically make the change for us, but most regular clocks will need to be adjusted by hand.

Sunset this Saturday is at 5:58 p.m. CDT in the Twin Cities metro area. On Sunday, our sunset is at 4:57 p.m.

You can look up Twin Cities sunset times here.

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.