Mild weather arrives, but bitterly cold air returns for the weekend

Happy Wednesday everyone!

There are a few snow showers out across southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa this afternoon. Scattered snow showers will remain possible into this evening before exiting the area by around 10PM or so. Freezing drizzle will also be possible this evening. Any coated roads will be slick, so take it slower heading home during the evening commute.

These snow showers come as a warm front passes through the area, shifting our winds to out of the west tonight. In most situations this would lead to colder temperatures, but not this time! Temperatures warm tonight in fact, remaining in the low to mid 20F’s, with breezy winds up to around 25 mph.

Temperatures climb into the low to mid 30F’s on Thursday, with clouds decreasing throughout the day. A good day to get outside and enjoy the mild stretch of weather while it is here! Friday will be another excellent day to be outside, with highs nearing 40F across all of southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa. Many locations may exceed 40F!

Clouds hang around Friday and into Saturday as a powerful cold front races through the region. Temperatures tank Friday night, into the single digits. Highs will only be in the low teens Saturday with plenty of cloud cover.

That is not nearly the worst of it though! Highs will not make it above 0F both Sunday and Monday, with temperatures in the negative single digits for most locations both afternoons. Overnight low temperatures will be in the negative teens Sunday and Monday nights. Wind chills will also be down to near -30F. YIKES!!!!

Thankfully, temperatures moderate going into next week, with highs in the 20F’s by next Wednesday. No chances of snow past today as of now, with the best chance of seeing widespread sunshine again being early next week. A quite, yet dramatic, forecast to say the least!