Chilly Friday, cool weekend; milder days in the 7 day outlook
It was great to see some sunshine in the Twin Cities metro area Thursday afternoon!
If you didn't have a chance to see yesterday's sunshine, here's some documentation from the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen:
A check of daily weather records for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport shows that Dec. 6 was our least cloudy day since Nov. 18!
Temperature trends
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Our Friday morning low temp was 6 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The low occurred about 2 a.m., and then low clouds rolled in and temperatures rose before daylight arrived.
Northeastern and north-central Minnesota had less cloud cover than the metro area, and they had much chillier Friday morning lows:
High temps in northeastern Minnesota should reach the teens Friday afternoon, with 20s across the remainder of Minnesota.
Many spots in the Twin Cities metro area should creep slightly above 20 degrees, but we'll be well below our average Dec. 7 high of 30 degrees.
Highs in the 20s are expected across most of Minnesota on Saturday:
Similar highs are on tap for Sunday:
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 20s on Monday, then around 30 Tuesday and the lower 30s Wednesday and Thursday.
Temps look mild as we begin the second half of December; the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service indicates a strong tendency for warmer-than-normal temperatures for Dec. 14 through Dec. 20:
Keep in mind that our average Twin Cities high temp is in the mid to upper 20s during the Dec. 14-Dec. 20 time frame, so even highs in the 30s would be warmer than normal.
Snow chances
Eastern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, will have some snow flurries at times as we go through this Friday morning.
A stray flurry cannot be ruled out this weekend.
As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you will also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
Parts of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin could see some snow showers Wednesday afternoon and/or Wednesday night.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern Wednesday morning through Thursday morning:
The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the precipitation rate (mm per hour), not to the total amount of rain or snow.
Snow cover
The latest Minnesota snow depth map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office shows 4 to 6 inches of snow cover across much of southern Minnesota and northern Minnesota:
Much of the Twin Cities metro area has between 2 and 4 inches of snow on the ground, with a bit more to the southwest, plus southern Washington County.
Notice the swath of little or no snow cover across central Minnesota. They missed the snow that fell across southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area last weekend.
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.