Milder temps Friday; fishing opener weather
The blustery winds of Thursday are gone now, and milder temps will melt most of the remaining snow cover in northeastern Minnesota.
We're back to more spring-like weather!
Temperature trends
Our average high temp is 68 degrees this time of year in the Twin Cities metro area. We're expected to top out around 60 in much of the metro area this Friday afternoon. Many spots in Minnesota will have Friday highs in the 50s and there could be a few lower 60s in the south.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Saturday highs will reach the 60s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:
Sunday highs reach the 50s in many areas, with some lower 60s possible in the far north and in parts of the south:
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 60s Monday, followed by around 70 on Tuesday and lower 70s next Wednesday and Thursday.
Rain chances
A few scattered showers could develop over eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin late Friday afternoon and Friday evening.
A chance of showers or an isolated thunderstorm arrives in western Minnesota early Saturday afternoon, then that chance spreads into eastern Minnesota (including the metro area) by late Saturday afternoon. Minnesota and western Wisconsin could see scattered showers and an isolated thunderstorm Saturday evening.
Occasional scattered showers are possible on Mother's Day.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday through Sunday:
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.
Fishing opener weather
Our chance of Saturday afternoon showers or isolated thunderstorms isn't unusual for the fishing opener in Minnesota.
According to the Minnesota State Climatology Office:
Precipitation is not uncommon, but certainly is not the rule either. Three-quarters of past opening days have been free of measurable precipitation, and two-thirds of the fishing openers have been free of any precipitation, measurable or not.
The ice is out of most Minnesota lakes right now, according to the Climate Office:
Across Minnesota, 2019's ice-out dates were generally a week behind to very near median dates calculated since 1950. By May 7, the only holdouts were lakes in Cook County, some of the Boundary Waters Lakes, and Lake of the Woods.
Ice-choked lakes have dogged fishing openers of the past, including as recently as 2013. The 1950 opener was one of the worst known, with iced-over lakes extending to Mille Lacs, Osakis, and the Brainerd Lakes area. That year produced many of the late ice-out records for lakes with long records. Other years with ice on northern lakes include: 1966, 1979, 1996, 2008, and 2009.
More information about fishing in Minnesota can be found at the Department of Natural Resources, and a history of past fishing openers back to 1948 can be found at the Minnesota Historical Society .
And did you know that the Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener has a website?
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.