St. Patrick’s Day heat of 2012; temps ramp up this coming week
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Our average high temp on March 17 is 42 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area.
Can you imagine a St. Patrick's Day with a high temp of 80 degrees? That's what happened in the Twin Cities in 2012. The timing was good too, since it occurred on a Saturday.
The ice went out on several Twin Cities metro area lakes that weekend. Here's a peek at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis on March 18, 2012:
The Updraft blog the next day documented the lakes that saw ice-out during that "hot" March weekend. The 80 degree reading on March 17, 2012 set a new Twin Cities record for our earliest 80 degree reading in any calendar year.
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St Patrick's Day of 2012 was the second day in a four-day stretch of record highs in the Twin Cities:
St. Patrick's Day temps will be much closer to normal this year.
Temperature trends
Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see highs in the 30s on Sunday.
Many spots will also have highs in the 30s on Monday:
Some locations in the metro area will probably touch 40.
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 40s Tuesday, followed by mid 40s Wednesday and around 50 on Thursday. We could reach the low-to-mid 50s on Friday.
Light snow showers?
Some areas of fog are expected in Minnesota and western Wisconsin Saturday night and Sunday.
There's a chance of some scattered light snow showers in northern and central Minnesota late Saturday night, and that chance continues Sunday morning. Southern Minnesota, the Twin Cities metro area and west-central Wisconsin could see a light snow shower Sunday morning, and maybe even a brief bit of freezing drizzle.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday evening through Sunday evening:
The loop illustrates the scattered nature of any light snow that develops, but not the exact location of the light snow showers.
As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you’ll also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
Flooding updates
A flood warning continues “until further notice” for areas near Sand Creek in Jordan in the southwest Twin Cities metro area:
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
1219 PM CDT Sat Mar 16 2019
...The flood warning continues for the following rivers in
Minnesota..
Cottonwood River at New Ulm affecting Brown County
Sand Creek at Sand Crk Jordan affecting Scott County
Redwood River near Redwood Falls affecting Redwood County
.Overview...
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Do not drive cars through flooded areas. Turn Around...Don`t Drown.
Stay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio or your local radio or TV station
for the latest information concerning this flood event.
MNC139-172317-
/O.CON.KMPX.FL.W.0003.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/
/SNCM5.3.IC.190314T2338Z.190315T0615Z.000000T0000Z.NR/
1219 PM CDT Sat Mar 16 2019
The Flood Warning continues for
The Sand Creek at Sand Crk Jordan.
* until further notice.
* At 11:00 AM Saturday the stage was 9.3 feet.
* Minor flooding is forecast.
* Flood stage is 10.0 feet.
* Forecast...Rise above flood stage by this afternoon and continue to
rise to near 10.2 feet by late this afternoon. additional rises are
possible thereafter.
You can get flood warning updates by clicking on any location on the NWS Twin Cities site. Areas with flood warnings are shaded green on their main page, and here’s how the map looked Saturday evening:
You can click on any location on the NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service site to get hydrographs of recent and forecast river levels.
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.