Everything we know so far about this week's winter storm

CATHY WURZER: A big snowstorm is making its way across the state again, just two weeks after the last one. Our meteorologist, Sven Sundgaard, is here to give us where, when, and how much. Hey, Sven. Happy New Year.

SVEN SUNDGAARD: Hey, Cathy. Happy New Year-- and New Year, but same pattern we've been in since the middle of November. Yeah, it's been an active winter. Everybody's kind of commenting on, this is our fourth major storm system since the middle of November. So that is pretty impressive compared to some of our recent years. And we're getting some really impressive totals where the storm has been going since really late yesterday into Eastern and South Dakota.

Those are the totals that are really coming in right now-- 19 inches in Trent in southeastern South Dakota, 18 inches in Crooks. That's just outside of Sioux Falls-- 20 inches in Alexandria. Not many Minnesota totals coming in because it's just, of course, started this morning. But 3.3, that was through 8:00 AM in Mankato. That's likely higher now. And we've seen about two inches so far at the MSP Airport.

And as you had mentioned, some lightning and thunder has been reported at times around Albert Lea and Austin. And that snow now has slowly made its way further north. It's starting to snow now in Brainerd, Mora, St. Cloud, Willmar, and of course, all through the Twin Cities. And we're going to be in for a pretty intense few hours. This going to be some of the heaviest snow we see out of the storm really between now and about 3:00-4:00 PM in the Twin Cities.

So that evening commute, it may not be falling so much snow at that point. But it's going to be very messy because we're going to get probably three to five inches alone from this band over the next few hours, and still some ice being reported. Albert Lea, Rochester, freezing rain still being reported there-- the temperature right at the freezing mark at the moment.

CATHY WURZER: Oh gosh, OK. And yes, as I mentioned, travel's really difficult in southwestern Minnesota.

SVEN SUNDGAARD: Yeah.

CATHY WURZER: So all this is in effect until late tonight. Then what happens after that?

SVEN SUNDGAARD: Yeah, so it can be a little confusing to look at all these advisories. In the Twin Cities, the winter storm warning is through 6:00 PM because of the heaviest snow. And then we're into a winter weather advisory through tomorrow evening. The snow will be lighter. But it's still going to be snowing tonight into tomorrow. The ice storm warning ends at 3:00 PM for southeastern Minnesota. And yeah, today is going to be the heaviest of it. But we are still in for a prolonged stretch.

So in total today, six to 10 inches in that southwestern part of the state, Worthington, Montevideo. And again, three to six inches for the Twin Cities, most of that falling in these next few hours. And then lighter amounts where we're seeing that wintry mix-- Faribault to Rochester. And in the Twin Cities, it is still possible that we'll see some light freezing rain maybe mix in with some of these heavier bursts of snow. And it's definitely not out of the question to see a little lightning and thunder here. That's how intense this band is that's moving in.

And then we get a bit of a break. The late afternoon into the evening hours, maybe between about 4:00 and 7:00 PM, it may not snow much at all. But then the center of this system, the low, which is sitting in Eastern Nebraska, is going to lift into Minnesota. And that's going to set this second phase, which will be a light to moderate snow. But it's going to last from tonight, tomorrow, into tomorrow night-- probably still some flurries early Thursday.

And that's going to give us another few inches. So that's how we've come up with these grand totals of still anywhere from six to 10 inches, Twin Cities, over a foot for places like Marshall. And all the way up to Duluth, even, is probably going to get three to seven, a little less than southeastern Minnesota, two to five inches probably around Rochester because of that mix of precip.

CATHY WURZER: OK, and because we're talking about thunder snow-- and snowflakes looked like goose down feathers. It was really kind of cool.

SVEN SUNDGAARD: Yeah, we've got perfect dendrites falling.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, yeah, yeah. I know you would know that, and probably on your deck watching them fall. Say--

SVEN SUNDGAARD: Good. I'm collecting them, actually.

CATHY WURZER: Really? That's pretty cool.

SVEN SUNDGAARD: True story.

CATHY WURZER: I'm not-- you know what? Knowing you, I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised at all. I think that's pretty cool. Because we're talking about thunder snow, right, am I to assume that the moisture content's pretty high in this?

SVEN SUNDGAARD: Very high-- you know, that's been the other unusual thing this winter, is each of these systems have been just loaded with water, which is not normal for Minnesota storms in that December, January time period. Usually, it's a fluffier, less moisture content snow. We get those heavier snowfall precipitation-wise events more early and late in the season, in November and March, think of.

So we are talking about, if we melt all this snow down, much of Southern Minnesota is going to get over an inch of water yet again. And this would be for the third time. And of course, coming off of that drought we had this summer and fall, it's just incredible how much the pattern has completely switched over to a much more active, much more wet one.

CATHY WURZER: Interesting, OK, so this system slowly pulls out of here. What's behind it?

SVEN SUNDGAARD: Cooler air, but not brutally cold air. We had that prolonged Arctic stretch, of course, after the last storm. We are not getting that this time. In fact, the models have actually modified a bit from what it was looking like. So Thursday, probably still close to 30, falling temperatures-- teens in northern Minnesota. And then Friday into the weekend, highs in the teens in northern Minnesota, probably just around 20 in Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities.

That is certainly tolerable and only a few degrees below normal. We might have a couple of mornings early Friday and Saturday up North that get just barely below zero. But most of us in the Central and Southern part of the state will probably stay below zero. And most importantly, if you like the snow but maybe not a storm a week, it looks like after this one's out of here early Thursday, we're in for a stretch of quiet weather into next week.

CATHY WURZER: Well, that is good news to start the New Year. All right, Sven, thank you. Go ahead and kind of go back to collect the dendrites. Go ahead.

SVEN SUNDGAARD: You're welcome. Stay safe.

CATHY WURZER: See you later. You, too. Bye, bye.