Record warmth for Thursday, mild through the weekend, slight snow chances

Happy Thursday morning everyone!

We have another mild day ahead of us across southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa! In fact, most locations, if not all, have a high chance of not only reaching their old record highs for January 30th, but exceeding them!

Highs across our area will be in the low 50F’s, under a mostly sunny sky. It will be slightly breezy, with southwest winds around 5 to 15 mph, but this will not take away from the fact that it will feel more like early April instead of late January.

Clouds will increase slightly later in the day south of the Minnesota/Iowa state line as an upper level low passes us by to the south. Can not rule out a stray evening shower across our northern Iowa counties, but most, if not all, locations will remain dry. It will be another mild night, with lows in the mid 20F’s.

Friday will be much colder, but still well above average for this time of year temperature wise! Highs will be in the upper 30F’s to lower 40F’s, with mainly sunny skies through a majority of the day. Winds remain light out of the north between 5 to 10 mph. Not a bad day at all!

Another storm system will approach our area this weekend. Upper level dynamics hint at a favorable pattern for at least some precipitation across our area Saturday afternoon, and into the evening hours. However, lack of moisture appears to be a major thorn in the side of us seeing any appreciable snowfall from this system, as has been the case with nearly every other system all winter. Have a slight chance of snow Saturday for now, but details are not set in stone, and may change, so it will be important to check back for updates during the next 2 days!

Uncertainty lingers with precipitation chances through the middle of next week. Model guidance hints at a chance of snow each day across southeastern Minnesota and northern Iowa, but timing and storm track are far from certainty at this point in time. With that said, have opted to keep the forecast mostly dry for now, with plenty of time to watch and make changes if needed.

Sunday will be another mild day, with highs in the mid to upper 40F’s once again. However, temperatures cool dramatically early next week, with daily highs near to slightly below average for the time of year. No extreme cold is in the forecast at this time, but we’ll need to watch for its return as we head through early February in all likelihood!

Overall, temperatures remain mild through Sunday, with much cooler temperatures returning for next week. Precipitation chances are highly up in the air (pun fully intended), but we’ll keep you updated on any changes to the forecast, so stay tuned! Have a great day everyone!