Get ready, it’s coming. Light snow showers are predicted to arrive Wednesday.
“Nothing heavy,” said Eric Ahasic, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. “It probably won’t stick, but we could see some scattered snow showers on Wednesday. Maybe as early as Tuesday night. Nothing impactful. But it’s that time of year.”
So far, November has been warm — though not as warm as September and October. Overall, we’re running about 6½ degrees above normal for the month, he said, with a lot of days in the upper 40s and low 50s. The average temperature for this time of year is right around 40 degrees.
The warm pattern is due to change mid-week with overnight temps falling to the upper 30s and low 40s. “And those colder temps will continue to the end of the month,” he said.
The coldest air, Ahasic said, will arrive right around Thanksgiving. Then overnight temperatures will fall into the teens and daytime temperatures will be in the low 30s.
As for precipitation, rain started Monday afternoon and was forecasted to last into the night.
“We’re looking at an inch to an inch and a half. It’ll be wet and blustery.”
The rain should taper off by Tuesday morning, with perhaps lingering, scattered rain showers. The rain will be steady during the overnight hours, he said.
November has been warm and dry so far.
“We’ve had more rain in November than we had in September and October, but we’re still running a half inch below normal,” Ahesic said. “But obviously that will change here tonight.”
While we’ve been below normal for rainfall in November to date, we’ll likely be above normal by Tuesday morning, said Tom Hoverstad, scientist at the University of Minnesota Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca. He estimated our incoming rainfall as ½ an inch as well.
What’s good about the rainfall is that it allows farmland to recharge, he said.
“The one thing about all this rain we’ve had in November, it really becomes available soil moisture because there’s very little evaporation this time of year,” Hoverstad said. “We call it the fall recharge. This time of year we usually have a net gain for moisture.”
Most of the state is still in some level of drought, which will take some moisture to alleviate.
However, the drought status in southern Minnesota will be eased by the rain forecasted. “Most of southern Minnesota is in moderate drought and that would be improved upon,” Hoverstad said.
When it comes to farming, it’s a good time to have a drought. But for those in businesses requiring snow, such as snow removal or outdoor sports, snow would be preferred, he said.
“We can’t forget about them,” Hoverstad said.
“So far it’s been warmer than normal and wetter than normal,” he said of November. “I think we’re still on that wet side, but I don’t think temperatures will be as warm as they’ve been. I think we’re going to cool off and stay a little bit wet.”