Still mild Friday; rising winds bring cold air Saturday
Northern Minnesota will see rain and snow showers
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Updated 9 a.m.
Temperatures will still be above normal Friday, but change is coming. Gusty winds will blow in colder air Friday into Saturday with below-normal temperatures by Sunday and Monday.
Mild Friday, then weekend temps drop
We should see a fair amount of sunshine through scattered clouds on Friday. Highs will range from the 50s south to the 40s north. Those readings are still 10 to 15 degrees above normal.
Gusty winds will be cranking up off to the west and spreading statewide into Saturday. Sustained speeds by Saturday will be 15 to 30 mph with gusts as high as 45 mph in western Minnesota.
The cold air will start to settle into northern Minnesota Saturday where temperatures won’t get out of the 30s. Southern Minnesota will still see highs in the 40s to near 50, although it will be rather windy.
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A clipper system bringing the cold and wind will also bring sprinkles and snow showers to northern Minnesota later Friday into Saturday night.
Snowfall is possible, especially in northeastern Minnesota. Some spots could see 1 or 2 inches of accumulation.
Sunday and Monday will bring the first two consecutive days of below-normal temperatures in a month. Highs will be in just the 30s south to 20s north.
Overnight lows Sunday night will dip into the teens and single digits, the coldest such night this month.
Wind chill values early Monday morning will be in the single digits across southern Minnesota but subzero north, something we’re certainly not used to.
Midweek rebound but cold, snow in the future?
Temperatures rebound by midweek, at least briefly, into the 40s and 30s. In the longer range, a colder pattern potentially develops late next week into next weekend.
Most forecast models agree on the increased likelihood of some snow in the region late next week into next weekend as a result. Where and how much is still a major question and we’ve had bad luck this winter season, so I’ll believe it when I see it, but there’s at least a risk in the long-range outlooks:
Snowfall in March is beneficial for our drought situation as much of that moisture does get absorbed into the soils, especially this year when the frost depth is non-existent for most of the state.