Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Chilly Wednesday, then milder on Thanksgiving; Friday rain

November is the cloudiest month of the year in the Twin Cities, and this month is sure behaving as expected.

We expect to see a cloud/sun mix at times on Wednesday, but a completely sunny day isn't in the five-day forecast.

In case you're wondering, our sunniest month is July.

I wonder if anyone has ever compared sunglasses sales in July vs. November.

Temperature trends

This Wednesday and Sunday will be the coolest days in the five-day forecast.

Wednesday afternoon highs are expected to be in the 20s across most of Minnesota, with some teens in the far north.

Thanksgiving day will be milder, with 40s in the southwest and lots of 30s elsewhere:

rt1122h5

A few spots in the northeast will see 20s.

On Friday, most areas will reach the 40s:

rt1123h5

Twin Cities metro area highs should reach the upper 30s on Thanksgiving, and lower 40s on Friday.

Metro areas highs are expected to reach the upper 30s Saturday, then retreat to the lower 30s on Sunday.

Rain and snow chances

Thanksgiving looks uneventful for most of Minnesota when it comes to precipitation.

That's a good thing!

Many Minnesotans will see some rain showers at times on Friday.

The rain could mix with snow or change to mostly snow in parts of northern Minnesota Friday evening.

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

rt1120rad
NOAA NAM simulated radar Friday and Friday evening, 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 rain and snow.

Saturday looks quiet weather-wise, but far southern Minnesota could see some snow on Sunday.

It looks like Iowa, far southern Wisconsin and parts of northern Illinois will see the heaviest snow Sunday and Sunday night, but check later forecasts for updates.

At this point I'd say that the Twin Cities metro area could see some snow showers on Sunday.

Cold in the Northeast

As I mentioned earlier, you can expect highs in the upper 30s in the Twin Cities on Thanksgiving Day.

Compare that to Boston, where they'll probably top out in the 20s, which will be more than 20 degrees below normal:

New England and eastern Canada will probably have the most abnormally cold (degrees below normal) weather on our planet on Thursday:

You might be able to impress your friends with that weather nugget!