A windy, cold weekend; warmer by next week

It is going to be a windy, cold start to the weekend. The wind chill factor will remain below zero through tonight and much of Saturday. On top of that, the strong wind gusts will continue to create areas of blowing snow across western and southwestern Minnesota, especially in rural areas. The good news is that on the first day of spring it’s actually going to start feeling a little more like spring. By Monday, highs will climb back up to around 40 degrees with mid to upper 40s possible by midweek. Even though it will be warmer, we are tracking a system that will have the potential to bring another round of precipitation to the region by mid to late week. The good news is that this time it should be warm enough to keep it all in the form of rain, although there may be a little light snow or freezing rain mixed in at times

The wind will continue tonight as temperatures drop back into the single digits period once again, the wind chill factor will drop into the single digits to teens below zero. Saturday will be partly to mostly cloudy and just slightly warmer and slightly less breezy. Highs will reach the low 20s with wind gusts dropping to between 25 and 30 mph. Sunday will be mostly sunny and less windy with highs climbing back into the mid 30s, which is warmer but still well below average for this time of year.

We will crank things up for the first day of spring on Monday. It will be partly cloudy with highs in the upper 30s to low 40s. Temperatures will continue to climb through the week with highs reaching the mid to upper 40s by Wednesday and Thursday. Some places, especially along and south of I-90, could reach 50 degrees by Thursday.

Despite the warmer temperatures, we are tracking another system that could bring even more precipitation to our region by mid to late next week. If you are tired of the snow, the good news is that this time, it should stay warm enough for the majority of the precipitation to come in the form of rain. There could still be some light snow and maybe even a little freezing drizzle at night and early in the morning when temperatures drop below freezing, but significant winter precipitation is not expected at this time.

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