Nice today and Friday, then a wet and cold weekend

Today’s weather in the Twin Cities will be nice with mainly sunny skies this afternoon and highs near 60 degrees with east-southeast winds at 5-10 mph. Partly cloudy tonight with spotty showers and thunderstorms possible between 1- 6 a.m. Friday mainly in the southeast metro area south and east of the MSP International Airport. Lows by the 7 a.m. sunrise Friday will be in the mid 40s with southeast winds at 5-15 mph.

Friday will bring a very large temperature gradient across the Twin Cities with suburbs north of downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul only having highs in the 60s while temperatures climb into the 70s from downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul and possibly close to 80 degrees in southern sections of Scott and Dakota Counties. Meanwhile, significant ice and snow is expected in northern Minnesota which could produce very difficult travel conditions in the Duluth area along with potential of power outages. Skies in the Twin Cities on Friday will be partly cloudy in most of the metro but mainly cloudy in the northern suburbs with the cooler temperatures. Winds on Friday will be from the south at 10-15 mph in the south metro and northeast at 10-15 mph in the north Metro. Spotty showers and storms will develop mostly over the south metro Friday evening after 10 p.m. and some could produce hail and gusty winds in the south metro into western Wisconsin. Risk for thunderstorms will be higher in far southern Minnesota closer to Iowa border Friday night into Saturday morning. It will turn colder in the Twin Cities in all areas by 7 a.m. Saturday with northeast winds at 10-20 mph and lows in the upper 30s.

Mostly cloudy and colder on Saturday with chilly northeast winds at 10-20 mph and highs in the low 40s. Spotty rain showers possible in the morning then more widespread, heavier rainfall developing after 1 p.m. Saturday and eventually mixing with snow Saturday night into Sunday morning with 1″ of snow or less possible by Sunday morning. Lows will fall to near 32 degrees by Sunday morning resulting in scattered slippery spots on roads around the metro.

Snow and rain until the noon hour on Sunday otherwise cold with northeast winds at 10-20 mph and highs in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees. Sunday evening will be mostly cloudy with drizzle and light snow at times and lows in the low 30s by Monday morning.

Monday brings chance for light snow and drizzle in the morning before 10 a.m. then partly cloudy with chilly winds Monday afternoon and highs in the low 40s (average high is near 50 Degrees). Skies gradually becoming partly cloudy Monday afternoon and remaining partly cloudy into the evening with scattered frost as lows fall into the mid 20s by Tuesday morning.

Some sun Tuesday morning then cloudy with rain after 3 p.m. and highs will be in the low to mid 40s. Rain continues Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and may be mixed with snow at times with lows in the mid 30s. Rain and snow mixed on Wednesday eventually ending early Thursday as snow. Slowly clearing Thursday with highs in the mid 40s. Sunny and warmer Friday and Saturday with highs in the low 50s Friday and near 60 degrees Saturday April 5. JONATHAN YUHAS