Morning fog Tuesday; mild weather persists all week with rain Friday

An end-of-December thaw will diminish much of the snowpack across southern Minnesota this week. The next system will likely bring rain to Minnesota Friday into Saturday. 

Warmer than normal all week 

Dense fog advisories blanket much of northern and western Minnesota Tuesday morning. Also watch for freezing fog in some spots. Watch out for patchy freezing drizzle and flurries in some fog and low clouds also Tuesday morning.

It will remain hazy and cloudy all day Tuesday. Fog is likely to redevelop for many areas overnight again Tuesday night into early Wednesday.

Look for another mild day Tuesday with mostly cloudy skies. Western Minnesota may see some breaks in the clouds.

Overnight, look for more fog and low clouds. Temperatures will dip below freezing again so watch for slick spots and potential freezing fog.

We’ll see similar temperatures much of the week with highs in the 30s for most. Christmas Day will be a little warmer with mid-30s widespread across southern Minnesota and mostly cloudy skies.

Friday and Saturday may push temperatures into the low 40s across southern Minnesota. Those readings are about 15 degrees above normal.

By week’s end, the next storm system will develop rain showers Friday into Saturday for much of Minnesota into Wisconsin.  

Some areas could see as much as one-quarter to one-half inch of rainfall.

It’s possible northern Minnesota could see some snowfall at the tail end of the system if enough cold air can work in.

Most models do not produce much snowfall at this point, but the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model is more aggressive with several inches possible north.

Count on the snowpack in central and southern Minnesota to be gone by the end of next weekend. We officially have 3 inches of snow depth in the Twin Cities as of early Tuesday.