Flake chances northern Minn. Sunday afternoon, spreading south and east Sunday evening

There’s a cold front headed our way.

It’ll combine with an upper level disturbance to spread some areas of light snow into northern Minnesota Sunday afternoon. Parts of northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin have already seen patchy light snow Sunday morning.

Some light snow showers or a rain/snow mix could spread into central Minnesota by late Sunday afternoon and into the Twin Cities metro area, southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin by Sunday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 6 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday:

NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid-Refresh (HRRR) model shows a similar precipitation pattern for that period:

Some snow squalls are possible in parts of northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin later today:

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. 

Updated forecast info will be posted by the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Sioux Falls and Grand Forks.

Gusty winds

A cold front will spread cooler air into Minnesota later today, and the winds will pick up. Gusty winds will continue into Monday morning. Here are temperature and wind forecasts for northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

Here are wind gust forecasts elsewhere in Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Winds will crank up Sunday evening in the Twin Cities, with gusty winds lingering into Monday morning.

Temperature trends

The average Dec. 17 Twin Cities high temperature is 28 degrees. Metro area highs are forecast to reach the upper 30s Sunday afternoon.

Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see Sunday highs in the 30s, with lower 40s possible in far southern Minnesota. A few spots in far northwestern Minnesota could see highs in the upper 20s.

Monday highs will be in the 20s in most areas:

Far northern Minnesota could see highs in the upper teens.

Temps rebound Tuesday afternoon, with highs in the 30s in most areas:

A few spots in the far southwest could top 40 degrees.

Twin Cities metro are highs are projected to reach the upper 30s on Tuesday, followed by lower 40s Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

We could see above normal temps next weekend and into the start of the following week. Here’s the temperature outlook for Dec. 22 through Dec. 26 from the NWS Climate Prediction Center:

Weather nugget

Last December, the highest official Twin Cities temperature (measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) was 39 degrees.

This December, there have already been 7 days with highs in the 40s at MSP airport and two days with highs in the 50s.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.