Clouds Stick Around Sunday, With Rain Chances Returning Sunday Night Into Monday

It's been a wet week of weather in the Twin Cities, with five straight days of accumulating rain - the most consecutive days with precipitation since October 2019. Overall through the work week we saw a total of 1.51" of rain fall in the Twin Cities. Tuesday saw the most with 0.68" of rain fall. Of course, we did see rain during the Twins game Thursday, causing a slight rain delay.

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A lot of the rain on Friday was focused in on portions of central and northern Minnesota, with record rain observed in St. Cloud, International Falls, and Baudette.

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The saying goes that "April showers bring May flowers." Well, we should have a lot of flowers around come May with the rain that we've seen so far this month! Most climate sites across the state (except Rochester) are running above average precipitation-wise through Friday, with St. Cloud almost two inches above average. No wonder lawns are quickly greening up out there!

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Meanwhile, due to the warm weather we've seen this month - including the record high of 85F from Monday - we sit atop the list for the warmest start to April on record (through the first nine days of the month). Our average temperature of 54.3F just narrowly beats out the 54.2F back in 1910. Precipitation-wise, we sit at the 9th wettest start to April through the same time period. The wettest first nine days of the month was back in 2006 when 3.64" of precipitation fell.

Another fairly cloudy day awaits us as we head into Sunday in the Twin Cities, but we should be able to see a few peeks of sun by the late afternoon hours. Morning temperatures will start off in the low 40s, climbing to the mid/upper 50s for highs - slightly above average.

On Sunday, we'll be watching two systems in the upper Midwest - one moving through the Ohio Valley toward the Great Lakes, and another dipping out of Canada. The first will help bring some cloud cover across eastern Minnesota with some showers possible for portions of southeastern Minnesota and the Arrowhead. The other will bring some rain in across mainly western Minnesota very late in the day. Some better precipitation chances from these two systems exist across much of the state Sunday Night (especially northern and central Minnesota), possibly mixing with snow at times. If you want sunny weather Sunday - head southwest! Highs will mainly be in the 40s and 50s, but could pop into the 60s in southwestern Minnesota with the sunshine.

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As mentioned above, we have a couple lows that'll be working through the upper Midwest the next few days, merging, and eventually working back westward a touch before getting kicked to the east. That'll bring the chance of showers to portions of eastern Minnesota Sunday, into western Minnesota late in the day Sunday, and eventually across a good portion of the state Sunday Night into Monday. Some areas could even see some snow mix in at time.

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Mostly 50s With a Dash of Slush

By Paul Douglas

The forecast calls for a blizzard...of buds. After last week's soaking rains Minnesota is greening up earlier than usual. Cue spring clean-up, chirping birds, and an errant slush event or two.

Keep in mind average April snowfall in the Twin Cities is 2.5 inches. But a sun angle as high in the sky as it was on September 1 means any snow that does fall won't stick around for long. The reason for this disclaimer/preamble? A coating of slush, even a quick inch of frozen water, is possible Tuesday, with potentially plowable amounts north and west of Detroit Lakes. Old Man Winter's way of saying "hold my beer". Here's the thing: it'll melt.

No, a Minnesota spring is not for the faint of heart.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SUNDAY: Cloudy, Wisconsin rain. Wake up 42. High 56. Chance of precipitation 30%. Wind NW 10-15 mph.

MONDAY: Cool and damp with showers. Wake up 43. High 48. Chance of precipitation 70%. Wind W 10-20 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Drier but clouds linger. Wake up 34. High 52. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NE 8-13 mph.

THURSDAY: A few sunny breaks, not bad. Wake up 36. High 57. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind E 5-10 mph.

FRIDAY: Clouds increase, PM showers. Wake up 44. High 56. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind SE 8-13 mph.

SATURDAY: Duck-friendly. Periods of rain. Wake up 44. High 49. Chance of precipitation 70%. Wind E 8-13 mph.

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1929: An intense downpour occurs in Lynd, Minnesota (near Marshall), where 5.27 inches of rain would fall in 24 hours.

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Average Temperatures & Precipitation for Minneapolis
April 11th

Average High: 56F (Record: 83F set in 1968)
Average Low: 35F (Record: 25F set in 1940)
Average Precipitation: 0.08" (Record: 1.58" set in 1887)
Average Snowfall: 0.1" (Record: 5.7" in 1929)
Record Snow Depth: 6" in 1929

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Sunrise: 6:34 AM
Sunset: 7:53 PM

*Length Of Day: 13 hours, 18 minutes and 58 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: ~3 minutes and 3 seconds

*When Do We Climb To 13.5 Hours Of Daylight? April 15th (13 hours, 31 minutes, and 4 seconds)
*When Is The Sunrise At/Before 6:30 AM?: April 14th (6:29 AM)
*When Is The Sunset At/After 8:00 PM?: April 16th (8:00 PM)

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On Sunday, a system working into the Great Lakes will bring rain chances across the upper Midwest and Great Lakes. An associated cold front and additional low in the Southeast will bring the potential for storms from the Northeast to Florida. A second low dropping into the Northern Plains will bring rain and snow chances from Montana into the upper Midwest.

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'Average' Atlantic hurricane season to reflect more storms

More from NOAA: "Beginning with this year's hurricane season outlooks, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) will use 1991-2020 as the new 30-year period of record. The updated averages for the Atlantic hurricane season have increased with 14 named storms and 7 hurricanes. The average for major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5) remains unchanged at 3. The previous Atlantic storm averages, based on the period from 1981 to 2010, were 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. NOAA is updating the set of statistics used to determine when hurricane seasons are above-, near-, or below-average relative to the climate record. This update process occurs once every decade. "This update allows our meteorologists to make forecasts for the hurricane season with the most relevant climate statistics taken into consideration," said Michael Farrar, director of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction."

Blizzard and historic April cold hit Alaska, with temperatures 50 degrees below normal

More from the Capital Weather Gang: "Springtime in the Last Frontier doesn't always mean April showers. Blizzard conditions, wind chills of minus-70, and temperatures more than 40 degrees below zero are gripping the nation's 49th state, beneath a record-cold air mass in the lower atmosphere. Alaskans have endured abnormally cold weather since February, and the intensity has set records in recent days. Temperatures on Tuesday morning fell to minus-24 degrees in Fairbanks and minus-33 in Bettles, both record lows for the date. Livengood, about 60 miles north-northwest of Fairbanks, plummeted to minus-31. A number of other locales dropped down to minus-25 to minus-30."

More from Earther: "Researchers have known that the Thwaites Glacier is in trouble due to encroaching warm waters, but they'd never actually analyzed data from beneath the glacier's float ice shelf—until now. A new study published in Science Advances on Friday presents the first-ever direct observations of what's going under the infamous ice shelf, including the temperature and salinity of the water that's flowing under it as well as the strength of the current. What they found is pretty troubling. The authors explain that the supply of warm water to the glacier's base is larger than scientists previously believed, which means it's even more unstable than we thought. Given that it's often called the "doomsday glacier," that's particularly ominous."

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) and like me on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).

- D.J. Kayser