Rain, record highs likely on Christmas Eve

Here’s your Saturday evening forecast for December 23, 2023 from Minnesota’s Weather Authority and Meteorologist Matt Serwe.

Clouds and fog continue from eastern Minnesota into northwest Wisconsin Saturday night. Some of the fog will be locally dense. Rain is likely across western and central Minnesota overnight, and a few light rain showers are possible from time to time in the Twin Cities. If you need to get around the metro through the morning of Christmas Eve, you should have more dry time than rain. That rain becomes widespread and steady at times Sunday afternoon and evening. Even with the rain, record highs in the low to mid 50s are likely in the Twin Cities, and mid to upper 40s around the rest of the state.

If you are staying from the Twin Cities to the south and east Christmas Eve into Christmas Day, expect a lot of rain—and only rain. 1 to 2 inches of rain is possible through Monday night. If you are going to be in western Minnesota, you could be dealing with rain, freezing rain, and/or snow. This is one of those forecasts where just a degree or two difference in temperatures could mean cold rain or accumulating ice early Christmas morning. My best advice would be to keep checking the latest forecast information through Sunday to see where snow and ice are possible. If you plan on traveling anywhere from Morris to Marshall to Worthington, that is where ice is possible.

By Christmas night, colder air will slowly move west to east across Minnesota. That will change rain to a rain/snow mix, and likely accumulating snow in far western Minnesota. Rain and snow showers continue Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning. Some light slushy accumulations are possible in the Twin Cities, but any shovelable snow will stay in western Minnesota. The remainder of the week will be quiet and cooler. Highs fall into the low and mid 30s through Friday.