Weekend weather: Gusty winds; rain at times on Sunday
Temps will be warmest on Saturday
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We had strong northerly winds on Wednesday, which spawned some nice waves on area lakes. Winds will also be strong this weekend, but they will be out of the southeast.
Weekend temps and winds
The average Twin Cities high temperature is 52 degrees on April 6. Metro area highs are expected to reach the upper 50s this Saturday.
Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see Saturday highs in the 50s, with some 40s in northeastern Minnesota:
A few spots in southern Minnesota could touch 60 degrees.
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An approaching low-pressure system will bring us gusty winds Saturday afternoon through Sunday. Wind gusts Saturday afternoon and evening are expected to be in the 30 to 40 mph range across much of western Minnesota:
Saturday afternoon wind gusts could approach 30 mph in the Twin Cities, with gusts of 30 to 35 mph at times Saturday evening.
Many locations will have Sunday afternoon wind gusts of 25 to 35 mph:
Some spots up along the North Shore could see wind gusts of around 40 mph at times on Sunday.
Sunday high temperatures will be in the 40s in many areas, with some 50s in northwestern and north-central Minnesota:
Precipitation chances return by Sunday
The approaching low-pressure system will bring some periods of rain to southern and central Minnesota plus portions of Wisconsin late Saturday night into Sunday.
Parts of northern Minnesota could see scattered precipitation on Sunday. There might be a rain/snow mix in parts of central Minnesota and up toward Brainerd and Hinckley on Sunday, before it changes to all rain in those areas.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 1 p.m. Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday:
An isolated thunderstorm is also possible on Sunday in southern Minnesota.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network.
Snow depth update
Some snow cover remains in northeastern Minnesota. Here’s the latest Minnesota snow depth map, posted Thursday afternoon by the Minnesota State Climatology Office:
Areas shaded green had snow depths between 4 and 8 inches Thursday morning, with snow depths of 8 to 12 inches in the areas that are shaded light blue. The yellow-shaded areas had between 2 and 4 inches of snow cover Thursday morning.
Much of Minnesota had a lot more snow cover in early April of last year. Here’s the April 6, 2023 snow depth map for Minnesota:
The purple-shaded areas in northern Minnesota had 18 inches or more of snow cover on April 6, 2023. Portions of Lake County and Cook County in northeastern Minnesota had snow depths of 36 inches or more at that 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.