The National Weather Service reports that this weekend should be wet with rain and snow.
Approximately 1.37 inches of rain fell on Wednesday, with another half inch by mid Thursday morning.
“The Falls was the bullseye of the precipitation, especially on Wednesday,” said Kevin Donofrio, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth.
Expect showers to begin early Friday morning with a 70 percent chance of rain to follow. Temperatures should reach 40 degrees Fahrenheit and then dip to 28 in the evening with a 40 percent chance of snow. North winds will average 10 to 15 mph, with gusts up to 20 mph.
The snow is moving in from blizzard condition in the Dakotas with snow and winds up to 70 mph. Donofrio said the storms will weaken as they cross over western Minnesota and reach the Falls.
“There will be considerable blowing of snow but not as much,” said Donofrio, who cautions motorists nonetheless.
“It doesn’t take a lot of snow to reduce visibility over a short distance,” he added.
Following a break on Friday midday, the Weather Service expects a shift from rain to an inch or less of blowing but not accumulating snow in the afternoon and overnight.
“The ground is still warm and damp,” he said. “The system is meandering along with showers and breaks.”
Donofrio expects that the heaviest precipitation is going to pass more to the south toward the Twin Cities.
There is a 20 percent chance of light snow showers before noon on Saturday, followed by flurries. The temperature should reach 31 degrees with north winds around 15 mph, and gusts up to 25 mph.
There will be a 30 percent chance of snow showers Saturday evening with a low around 19 degrees.
Sunday in the Falls should be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow showers and a high near 31 degree. Temperatures will dip to around 16 degrees on Sunday night.
The sun should return Monday with a high near 33 degrees and a partly cloudy night with a low near 22 degrees.
In contrast, the Weather Service recorded a record high temperature for International Falls of 66 degrees on Nov. 3, tying the previous record set in 1978. The 70 degree temperature recording on Oct. 30 was indeed unseasonably high, but the record of 75 set in 1950 still stands.
The Nov. 2 high of 52 degrees is far below the record of 71 was set in 1903. The Nov. 2 low was 37 degrees. The record low of -2 degrees was set in 1951. The average temperature for Nov. 2 is 45.
The temperature reached 63 degrees on Nov. 4, just short of the record of 67 set in 1975. The low was 45. The normal temperatures for this date are 40 high and 23 low.
The average daily temperature for October was 42.7 degrees. That is slightly above the 41.6 degrees normal temperature for the month. The average high was 52.7 degrees and the low 32.7 degree. There was 2.4 inches of precipitation for the month. The highest 24 hour total was .97 inches on Oct. 11-12. The only snowfall for the month was .2 inches on Oct. 26.