Mild Temperatures through next week

We are set for a long stretch of unusually mild temperatures across southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa for the week ahead, courtesy of a weakened jet stream across the country.

The polar jet stream will be lifting well north of Minnesota and Iowa as we head into the new week, resulting in any arctic air over Canada remaining trapped there. With the polar jet being confined to Canada, this limits the potential for any significant storm systems across the country through at least the first half of the week as well.

The lack of any significant southward dip in the jet stream, as well as any storm systems to watch through the middle of upcoming week, will result in a rather stagnant pattern across the Midwest.

This stagnant pattern will allow mild temperatures to build across Minnesota and Iowa. High temperatures will start in the low to mid 30F’s early week, reaching into the mid to upper 30F’s by Christmas Day, with upper 30F’s to lower 40F’s by weeks end!

The average high temperatures for this time of year are in the mid 20F’s, making this a stretch of above to well above average temperatures for southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa, that may last into early the following week.

By the end of this upcoming week, a few subtle troughs will break away from the polar jet and make their way across the southern United States. While these troughs will not expose us to any arctic air, they will lead to increased rain chances by the end of the week. Hard to pin point any specific details, but have added rain chances next Friday and Saturday.

In the meantime, we’ll have a lot of cloud cover this upcoming week, with the potential for fog at times as well.