Areas of fog overnight & early Sunday; warmer than normal this coming week

Fog lingered over portions of western Minnesota through much of Saturday.

A dense fog advisory continues overight and until noon on Sunday in eight southwestern Minnesota counties:

Much of western Minnesota is expected to see fog Saturday night into Sunday morning, with freezing fog in some locations. Fog and freezing fog will tend to be more patchy in eastern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin.

Additional counties could be added to the dense fog advisory Saturday night or early Sunday.

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

Updated forecast information will be posted by the National Weather Service offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D. and Grand Forks, N.D.

Temperature trends

The Saturday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 38 degrees. That’s well above the average Feb. 3 Twin Cities high of 25 degrees. It was great to see the sunshine emerge around mid-afternoon.

Western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota had sunshine through much of the afternoon, allowing highs to reach the lower 40s.

Sunday high temps will top 40 degrees in much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Monday highs are also expected to be in the 40s in most areas:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 50s on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by upper 40s Thursday and lower 40s on Friday.

No snowstorms in sight

Some spots that see dense fog overnight or early Sunday could also see a bit of drizzle or freezing drizzle at times.

Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have a rain-free Sunday. We aren’t expecting any snow either.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 6 a.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. Sunday:

The start of the coming week looks dry too. Minnesota and western Wisconsin could see some periods of rain showers Thursday and Thursday night, with a chance or rain showers and snow showers on Friday.

California braces for heavy rain and strong winds

A strong low pressure system is headed toward California. It’s expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to California, along with heavy snow in the mountains.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Saturday evening through Monday afternoon:

Here’s the timing of heaviest rains in southern California:

Here are the potential effects of this storm:

Here’s the wind and surf forecast for southern California:

Weather nugget

So far this 2023-2024 snow season, the Twin Cities snow total (measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) is just 7.3 inches. The 2022-2023 Twin Cities snow total through Feb. 3 was 55.5 inches, on the way to a final snow season total of 90.3 inches.

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.