Source: https://www.spc.noaa.gov
A cooler airmass is moving into the Northland (thank you Canada!) It won’t be terribly cold Friday afternoon, in fact temps will be close to average for late March, just not quite as toasty as what we saw on Thursday.
Temperatures really took off this afternoon across the Northland with widespread 45 to 50 degree temps with even warmer temps along the North Shore of Lake Superior with Silver Bay climbing into the mid 50s on this 21st day of March.
Source: https://weathermodels.com
12z European computer model (ECMWF) 3-21-19
Wind gust forecast valid for Sunday, March 24, 2019.
…Climate Data for March 20, 2019…
Duluth, Minnesota
2nd highest minimum temperature on record for March 20 with a low on Wednesday of 35 degrees. The record high low temperature for March 20 is 50 degrees set in 2012.
Hibbing, Minnesota
3rd highest minimum temperature on record for March 20 with a low on Wednesday of 32 degrees. The record high low temperature for March 20 is 42 degrees set in 2012.
Weather Tidbits for Duluth, Minnesota
•Today, March 21st marks the 10th consecutive day with a high temperature of at least 32 degrees, and 6 out of the 10 days have had a high temp of at least 40 degrees!
•Today, March 21st marks the 4th consecutive day with a high temperature of at least 40 degrees!
•Temperature reached 50 degrees at 3 PM today, March 21st — This is the first time with a 50 degree or warmer temperature since October 24th, nearly 5 months ago! Last year we didn’t get our first 50 degree temperature until April 19! Note: The average date for the first 50 degree temperature is March 18, so today’s 50 is pretty close to when we typically get our first 50 degree temperature.
Weather Synopsis for Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin
Quite a bit of excitement with our weather today as high temperatures soared into the upper 40s to low 50s with numerous locations seeing its first 50 degree temperature of the year today — See list below
Bigfork
Pine River
Longville
Brainerd
Aitkin
McGregor
Moose Lake
Cloquet
Duluth Airport
Duluth Harbor
Cook
Eveleth
Two Harbors
Silver Bay
The Bay of Grand Marais
Superior
Solon Springs
Hayward
Sunshine and northwest breezes which were strong enough to push the warm air right up to Lake Superior today.
Tonight: Clear to mostly clear skies this evening followed by partly to mostly cloudy skies later tonight. Could be a few flurries or sprinkles up around the Grand Marais area otherwise dry tonight with lows in the teens and 20s.
Cold air advection on northerly winds will occur tonight into Friday with 850mb temperatures at 3 PM Thursday ranging from +4 to 0C from southwest to northeast across the Northland, by Friday morning 850mb temperatures will have fallen to between 0 to -10C.
Friday: It’ll be a cooler day compared to Thursday’s ‘balmy’ temperatures with highs on Friday in the mid 30s to low 40s which is right around normal for March 22. Mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies are expected with blustery north winds 10 to 25 mph late tonight into Friday morning.
…Looking Ahead…
Milder temperatures return Saturday as southwest winds develop as high pressure moves southeast of the upper Midwest. Highs Saturday should be quite similar to what we saw Thursday with temperatures in the mid 40s to low 50s expected Saturday afternoon with even a few locations possibly reaching the middle 50s!
It does look like will turn a lot cooler Sunday and Monday as cold air surges west/south out of Ontario province and Lake Superior. Accompanying these cooler temps will be strong northeast winds on Sunday with the strongest winds expected to occur near Lake Superior where wind gusts could top 30 mph!
A cold front pushing south out of central Canada will move through the area on Sunday which could bring a little rain or snow to parts of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin, but not expecting very much in the way of accumulation of snow or rain.
There is also a chance for a few light lake effect snow showers near Lake Superior especially Sunday afternoon/evening once the 850mb temperatures become cold enough to support such a thing.
Note: I’m still monitoring late next week for a potential system which could bring some rain or snow to the area but this is still a long ways out and model guidance is not in very good agreement yet on the track of a low pressure system coming out of the Rockies during the March 28-30 time frame.
Forecast for Duluth
.Tonight… Breezy. Mostly clear. Low 20 to 25. Wind northwest 10 to 20 mph.
.Friday… Breezy and cooler. Mostly sunny. High 37 to 42. Wind north at 10 to 20 mph.
.Saturday… Partly cloudy. Milder. High 46 to 51. Wind southwest 10 to 20 mph.
.Sunday… Windy and colder. Mostly cloudy. A few snow showers or flurries possible. High 30 to 35 early in the day, temperatures falling into the 20s by the afternoon. Wind becoming northeast 15 to 30 mph.
Normal temperatures for March 22
High: 37
Low: 20
Sunrise Friday: 7:08 AM CDT
Sunset Friday: 7:24 PM CDT
Tim
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