Above-normal temps linger; Flake chance in northern Minn. late Sunday

After several mostly cloudy days, it was really great to see the sunshine return Sunday morning. Temperatures will remain well above normal today and for several additional days.

Temperature trends

The average Twin Cities high temp is 27 degrees this time of year. Metro area highs are expected to be around 40 degrees Sunday afternoon. A few spots in the metro area could creep briefly into the lower 40s.

Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see Sunday highs in the 30s, with 40s in west-central and southwestern Minnesota.

Monday highs will be mainly in the 30s, but some spots in the Twin Cities metro area and southern Minnesota could touch 40:

Far northern Minnesota will see some upper 20s.

Tuesday high temps will be mainly in the 30s, with upper 20s in parts of far northeastern Minnesota:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 30s on Tuesday, followed by lower 40s Wednesday then mid 30s Thursday and mid 20s on Friday.

Highs in the 20s could then linger into next Saturday and Sunday. The official Twin Cities high temp hasn’t been in the 20s since Jan. 21.

Flake chances north

Scattered flurries are possible in parts of northeastern Minnesota this morning and early afternoon.

A low pressure system could spread light snow showers into portions of northwestern Minnesota late Sunday afternoon. There’s a chance of light snow showers anywhere in far northern Minnesota Sunday evening and overnight, and patchy light snow could linger into early Monday in northeastern Minnesota.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 5 p.m. Sunday to noon on Monday:

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

Ice safety

Minnesota saw several days with very warm temps this past week, so ice conditions deteriorated on our lakes. This is a good time for a reminder about ice safety.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has plenty of information on ice safety, including these guidelines:

According to the DNR:

Many factors other than thickness affect ice strength, including air temperature, wind, snow, streams, narrow areas or bottlenecks, sun, shade, fish communities, plant decay, and more. When a layer of snow melts and refreezes on top of lake ice, it creates white ice, only about half as strong as new, clear ice. Double the above thickness guidelines when traveling on white ice.

Addition information on lake ice can be found here.

Weather nugget

Twin Cities sunset is at 5:35 p.m. today. Twin Cities sunset will be at 7:15 p.m. on March 11, when we’ll be on daylight saving time.

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.