St. Cloud, MN Weather Forecast

April featured some wild temperature swings between hot and cold and some important late month rain (set NWS Water Prediction Service Minnesota rainfall map to April 29 and the past 3 days). Lawns finally greened up and the trees are rapidly growing leaves in the aftermath. I noted how much the rain helped and how much more we needed in the posted St. Cloud April 2026 weather summary. 

On the other hand, temperatures took a major trip downward during the last week of April and only recovered back to warmer readings (highs of 67 Saturday and 71 Sunday) over the weekend (see 14-day graph of St. Cloud temperatures from MesoWest).

The weekend warmth won't last as we return to chilly early May temperatures and mainly dry weather for the upcoming week. 

Rex Block Another 'Weather Villain'

The culprit is the stalled steering wind pattern over the western portion of North America (see College of DuPage mid-level water vapor satellite loop). There is still a high pressure circulation (clockwise rotation) along the Canadian Pacific Coast, while a low pressure system (counterclockwise circulation) has been drifting westward from the Oregon coast back into the east central Pacific. This pattern of a stalled high to the north of a stalled low is called a Rex block (scroll to the bottom of the NOAA JetStream tutorial on upper-air weather patterns). It is a blocking pattern because weather systems are forced to either travel to the north of the stalled high or to the south of the stalled low. When a pattern like this sets up, it can persist for as long as 7-10 days as long as there is no strong weather system to push it away.

The northern portion of the blocking pattern has been affecting Minnesota since the last week in April. We have had the northern branch of the steering winds move weather systems from the lee of the northern Canadian Rockies through Minnesota, resulting in the cooler than average temperatures. It also has dried us out once again, since there has been little chance for the high moisture air to move this far northward. Right now, the upper 50's dew points have made it as far north as Missouri and Arkansas (yellow on the UCAR hourly dew point chart), because the blocking low has edged northward to Oregon over the weekend.

However, the northern branch of the circulation is going to push back to the south during this work week. Not only will that push moisture to the south, but it will end up drawing air from Hudson Bay back into Minnesota for the next several days. You can see the leading edge of the much cooler air (cold front on the latest NWS WPC North America zoom-in map) racing southeastward through the Canadian Prairie Provinces since yesterday (see band of green clouds on the College of DuPage North America clean infrared satellite loop). 

Back to March-April-ish Temperatures This PM Through Thursday

So, what does this mean for our weather? We will return to high temperatures (falling from 55-60 early this morning to near 50 at best this afternoon through Wednesday, in the 50's on Thursday) more typical of late March or early April rather than early May for much of this week. And, any clear calm night will have a chance for frost.

There will be a nearby upper air low taking the scenic route around the western Canada blocking high and coming close to Minnesota. That cold pocket of air aloft will produce the chance for a few brief showers or sprinkles with the best chance during each midday and afternoon, but the potential rainfall will be small (see NWS WPC quantitative precipitation forecast). Still, frequent daytime clouds and a stiff breeze will add to the chill in the air. I expect my inbox to continue to be full of complaints for the following week.

Warmer Weekend Again

At least seasonable warmth will have a chance to return over the weekend. Highs will make a run at 60 on Friday with 60's more likely over the weekend, perhaps into early next week. By then, the blocking pattern will weaken. Still, some long-range forecasts keep the northwest-to-southeast steering winds over Minnesota into next week, so we are not likely to see any return of the 80's we saw at times in April for a while.