Much warmer to start the week, potential winter storm Wednesday, then mild

Happy Sunday everyone!!!

It has been a chilly day relative to average across southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa, largely thanks to breezy northwest winds, and snowpack across northwestern Minnesota. At least the sun has been out!

Temperatures will not drop as much tonight thanks to northwest winds shifting to southerly winds between 5 to 15 mph, and a bit more cloud cover later on. Lows will be in the upper 20F’s across most of our area, which is above average for this time of year.

Southerly winds will lead to a dramatic warm up for Monday! We’re talking high temperatures in the low 60F’s across southeastern Minnesota, and mid to upper 60F’s across northern Iowa! We’ll have some degree of cloud cover Monday morning, as well as Tuesday morning. Temperatures will be slightly cooler Tuesday across southeastern Minnesota, and slightly warmer across portions of northeastern Iowa. Could see a few 70F’s closer to Charles City and New Hampton Tuesday afternoon!

Winds will be quite breezy both days, with winds out of the south Monday between 15 to 20 mph, gusting up to 30 to 35 mph. Winds will shift to out of the east/northeast Tuesday, between 5 to 15 mph, gusting up to 25 mph.

Much colder air begins to push into the area Tuesday night and Wednesday. A strong frontal boundary will develop right over us during this time frame, with a strong surge of moisture northward. This will open the door to rain potential early Tuesday night, with snow mixing in across southeastern Minnesota by Wednesday morning.

Rain changes to snow from northwest to southeast during the day Wednesday. Highs will only climb into the mid to upper 30F’s, and winds will be blustery out of the northwest, gusting up to 40 mph at times.

I want to emphasize the degree of uncertainty with this winter storm. Model guidance shows a significant, and narrow, band of snowfall across portions of our area Tuesday night into Wednesday. The exact location of where this band will set up is not something we know at this time. A shift north or south 20 to 30 miles will mean the difference between an inch of snow or several.

With that said, this is a rapidly evolving situation, and we will provide updates as they come. Make sure to check back in over the next few days for the latest!

Temperatures late week will depend on how much snow falls across our area Wednesday. More snow would mean colder temperatures, with highs only in the 30F’s. Less snow would allow highs in the 40F’s. Plenty of uncertainty in the forecast, with a lot hinging on what takes place Wednesday. We’ll know more over the next 2 days, so again, stay tuned!