Chilly Wednesday, milder temps for Thanksgiving; rain likely Friday
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We shouldn't be surprised when we wake up to cloudy skies in November. It's the cloudiest month of the year in the Twin Cities metro area.
We'll have a lot of cloud cover this Wednesday, with a few brief peeks of sun possible in the afternoon.
It'll be chilly too.
Temperature trends
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The temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 32 degrees around midnight. That will probably be the high temp that goes into the books for Wednesday. Our daytime high in the Twin Cities is expected to reach the upper 20s.
Highs in the 20s will be common across much of Minnesota this Wednesday, with some upper teens in far northern Minnesota.
A few spots in far southern Minnesota could top 30 degrees.
Thanksgiving Day highs should reach the lower 40s in southwestern Minnesota, with mostly 30s elsewhere:
Parts of northeastern Minnesota will top out in the upper 20s.
Many spots in the Twin Cities metro area should reach the upper 30s this Thanksgiving.
Highs in the 40s are expected across most of Minnesota on Friday, with some 30s in the far north:
Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to reach the upper 30s Saturday, followed by lower 30s on Sunday.
Rain and snow chances
Occasional flurries are possible from central Minnesota through the Twin Cities metro area and western Wisconsin this Wednesday morning and early afternoon.
Thursday looks quiet, weather-wise, but many spots in Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see periods of rain on Friday. The rain could mix with some snowflakes Friday evening, especially in the north, and it could change to all snow in parts of northeastern Minnesota late Friday night.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Friday and Friday night:
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.
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.
Saturday looks like a quiet weather day, but far southern Minnesota could see some snow on Sunday.
There is a "cone of uncertainty" for the track of the low-pressure system on Sunday:
The shaded area indicates how far north or south the center of the low-pressure system could track, based on various forecast models.
The heaviest snow would be to the north of the track.
It looks like Iowa and southern Wisconsin could 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 Thanksgiving in the Northeast
As I mentioned earlier, you can expect highs in the upper 30s in the Twin Cities metro area on Thanksgiving Day.
Compare that to Boston, where they’ll probably top out in the lower 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:
It'll also be breezy on Thanksgiving Day in New England, with wind chill temps below zero at times.
I'm sure that New Englanders will be talking about the cold Thanksgiving of 2018 for years!