Unseasonably mild with more rain through Christmas Day

An active weather pattern through the first half of next week will keep our skies cloudy, temperatures near record territory, and rain chances high through Christmas Day. For Thursday night into Friday morning, skies will stay cloudy with areas of drizzle and fog. There will be a few, light rain showers throughout southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa on Friday. This is mainly in the morning but there may be a few, straggling showers in the afternoon.

Unusually mild air will accompany the weak storm system on Friday, and a much stronger storm system will affect us Sunday through Tuesday of next week. In both cases, temperatures will be running warm for late December. The warmest day of the next week and a half looks to be this Saturday with the likelihood of at least a few, new record highs being set. Many locations in southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa will see highs around or even slightly above 50°.

Rain is likely from Sunday through Christmas Day, wrapping up on Tuesday. Rainfall totals for many in our area will be from 1 to 2″ with some isolated higher totals possible. Be sure to check your gutters and downspouts. The majority of this water will soak into the ground, but you won’t want it pooling up around the corners of your foundation.