Cooler For Thanksgiving Week With Minimal Precipitation Chances

Forecast loop between Midnight Sunday Night and 7 AM Tuesday.

We are tracking a system that'll move through the region as we head through Monday and Monday Night. It could bring a few showers or drizzle to parts of western and southern Minnesota Sunday Night into Monday, with a band trying to work east but quickly fading away as we head through Monday Night. Liquid amounts are expected to be light (there may be some issues getting this precipitation to actually occur) - generally around a tenth of an inch in northern Minnesota to barely anything elsewhere in the state. Some of this could turn to some snowflakes across the region Monday Night before fading away, with maybe a tenth or two of accumulation in northern Minnesota.

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The main thing that the system will bring the metro on Monday will be cloud cover. While an isolated shower or some drizzle can't be ruled out, chances appear minimal. Morning temperatures start off in the upper 30s with highs in the mid-40s. Easterly winds up to 10 mph will make it feel slightly cooler.

A warmer-than-average and mostly cloudy day is expected across the state, with some rain or drizzle in spots (as shown above in that forecast loop). Highs will mainly be in the 40s across the state but could touch 50F in the Red River Valley.

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Tuesday: Behind the system that moves through Monday we'll be cooler (highs only in the low 40s) and windier (northwesterly winds gusting to 30 mph by the afternoon hours). We'll likely start the morning off cloudy in the metro, but skies will quickly clear and we'll see a lot of sunshine during the afternoon hours.

Wednesday: For the all-important travel day before the Thanksgiving holiday, there won't be any weather concerns for the metro - or across the state - that'll have impacts. A mix of sun and clouds is expected, and temperatures will be in the low to mid-40s (depending on how fast a dry cold front moves through).

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Things are looking a touch better temperature-wise for Thanksgiving Day than it did a few days ago! Morning temperatures will start off in the mid to upper 20s as you put that turkey in the oven. Afternoon highs will then climb into the low to mid-30s. A breezy northwest wind, however, will make it feel closer to 20F throughout much of the day.

If you're waiting to do your shopping until the typical Black Friday timeframe - first of all, here's hoping your deal is still available! - but it certainly won't be as nice in the temperature department as this past weekend has been. Then again, I remember standing out in the freezing cold for hours on Black Friday morning in front of stores as a kid! Morning temperatures Friday through Sunday mornings will be down around 20F with highs around freezing. Right now it appears to be mainly dry.

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A Colder But Quiet Thanksgiving Weekend
By Paul Douglas

Here in the Land of 10,000 Weather Disappointments big storms prefer to come on major holiday weekends. Like Thanksgiving. 40 years tracking weather in Minnesota I've witnessed so many angst-inducing snowstorms arrive in late November.

For some odd reason no travel headaches are magically materializing. It will get colder - count on it. But a persistent El Nino signal in the Pacific is already detouring the biggest, wettest storms south of Minnesota. Odds favor a somewhat milder, drier winter. Then again, all it takes is one (storm).

Today will be gray with a little light rain or drizzle; temperatures in the 40s. The sun is visible Tuesday with a chilling northwest wind. By Thanksgiving Day we'll be lucky to see a high of 32F, with 30s spilling into the last week of November.

If you're traveling a few inches may fall on Denver and Rapid City by Thursday with a little slush over the Arrowhead. Otherwise: green-ish lawns.

I'm thankful for so many things, including a lack of holiday weather-drama. Whew.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

MONDAY: Gray, a little drizzle. Wake up 39. High 45. Chance of precipitation 40%. Wind SE 10-15 mph.

TUESDAY: Partly sunny and windy. Wake up 35. High 43. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 15-25 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Sunshine, last day of 40s in sight. Wake up 30. High 48. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SW 10-20 mph.

THURSDAY: A dry, no-drama Thanksgiving. Wake up 28. High 34. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

FRIDAY: Chilliest day. Feels like November. Wake up 23. High 29. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 8-13 mph.

SATURDAY: Plenty of sunshine, brisk. Wake up 21. High 33. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SW 10-20 mph.

SUNDAY: Passing sprinkle or flurry? Wake up 25. High 35. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind W 15-25 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
November 20th

*Length Of Day: 9 hours, 22 minutes, and 37 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 9 seconds

*When Do We Drop Below 9 Hours Of Sunlight? December 3rd (8 hours, 59 minutes, 24 seconds)
*When Is Sunrise At/After 7:30 AM? December 1st (7:30 AM)
*What Is The Earliest Sunset? December 8th-14th (4:31 PM)
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This Day in Weather History
November 20th

1996: Heavy snowfall accumulations of four to eight inches blanket much of Central Minnesota. Some of the heavier amounts included 8 inches at Montevideo and Gaylord, along with 7 inches at St. James, Mankato, Madison and Stewart. Six inches was reported in the Twin Cities and Glenwood.

1953: Freezing rain hits parts of Minnesota. 3 inches of ice accumulates on wires at telephone wires at Lake Benton.

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Attention turns to the center of the nation on Monday, as a system working eastward will spread showers and thunderstorms from the Plains to the Appalachians. On the north and west sides, snow and/or a mix of precipitation will be possible.

Heavier rain (possibly totaling up to 3") will be possible through the first part of the week in the Deep South and parts of the Appalachians.

Most of the snow in the western United States will have fallen through Monday morning - where between Sunday and Monday several inches will be possible.

Looking ahead toward the important travel day of Wednesday, we could watch some interruptions at airports in the eastern United States (especially the Northeast hubs) due to a system moving through the region. Rain could also impact Seattle and Portland.

On Thanksgiving, the main story will be a system in the northern Rockies bringing rain and snow chances. Most of the rest of the nation will see quiet weather.

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An Italian ski resort shut down by climate change plans to reopen with artificial snow. Not everyone is happy

More from CNN: "There are few things Italians do better than dreaming big against the odds. Take the multi-million-dollar plan that's been in the works since the 1990s to build the world's longest suspension bridge across the Straits of Messina in the heart of Mafia land. Or the very existence of the city of Venice, built on a lagoon system that's now better protected from extreme weather by mechanical flood gates that took more than 20 years to realize. Now, plans to build a multi-million-dollar ski facility on a snowless northern Italian mountain may prove equally challenging. The bald mountain is the Monte San Primo, a gorgeous 1,682 meter (5,518 foot) promontory that accounts for much of the landscape view from the north end of Lake Como. The quaint cobblestone city of Bellagio, at its base, is known as the "pearl" of the lake for beauty that has lured A-list celebs (and wealthy Russians), who own the majority of lavish villas nearby."

New Models Could Predict Climate Change Effects with Unprecedented Detail

More from Scientific American: "Scientists have used computer models to predict global warming's implications for more than five decades. As climate change intensifies, these increasingly precise models require more and more computing power. For a decade the best simulations have been able to predict climate change effects down to a 25-square-kilometer area. Now a new modeling project could tighten the resolution to one kilometer, helping policymakers and city planners spot the neighborhoods—or even individual buildings—most vulnerable to extreme weather events. "Climate [science] has always had a computing problem," says Bjorn Stevens, director of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. Recent technological advances such as shrinking transistors, however, have made computers far more capable, Stevens says. He and a group of climatologists and scientists from other disciplines are developing a network of global supercomputing centers called Earth Visualization Engines, or EVE, which they hope to complete within the decade. These centers would work together by running climate models, interpreted by machine-learning algorithms, on supercomputers to predict climatic shifts and severe weather events locally."

The Real Reason EV Repairs Are So Expensive

More from Wired: "In June this year, a Hyundai Kona rolled into a repair shop in Cheltenham, England. Humming gently, as electric vehicles do, it seemed to be running just fine. But the insurance company wasn't ready to sign it off. The car had been in a minor collision, which had caused damage to its battery casing. Another repair shop, about an hour's drive away, had been asked to replace the casing, but they didn't know how. And so, the car ended up here in Cheltenham, in front of Matt Cleevely, owner of Cleevely Motors. When he and his colleagues opened up the vehicle, they were stunned. Sure, the metal casing had a few light scratches—minor marks made by one of the car's rear suspension arms, which had got jolted during the incident—but nothing more. "They'd suffered very minor physical damage that neither compromised the integrity of the battery casing, nor was dangerous in any way," says Cleevely. "I just found it massively over the top.""

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

- D.J. Kayser