First big winter storm of the season coming alongside Thanksgiving travel
Patti Hanger, 63, left, of Duluth hikes at Hartley Nature Center with her sister Peggy Conley, 77, as snow accumulates Dec. 19, 2024, in Duluth.
Erica Dischino for MPR News
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Audio transcript
CHRIS FARRELL: Minnesota's first big winter storm system of the season is on its way, and the timing, it's not great for Thanksgiving travel. AAA predicts that across the Midwest, 5.8 million people will be driving for Thanksgiving. So you'll want to tune in to this forecast, especially if you're headed north. Joining me now is MPR News meteorologist, Sven Sundgaard. Sven?
SVEN SUNDGAARD: Hi. How are you?
CHRIS FARRELL: Good. All right. Well, I think I'm good. It depends on what you're going to tell us about, but, OK. Tell us about this Winter Storm Watch for the northern part of the state.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: Yeah, I'm only the messenger, remember.
CHRIS FARRELL: I remember, yes.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: We've got a Winter Storm Watch across much of Northern Minnesota, basically a line from Morris through St. Cloud, Moose Lake, everything north of there, with the exception of the far northwest corner of the state, up around Roseau, is under that Winter Storm Watch. And that means there's the potential for more than several inches of snowfall here, over the next couple of days.
And we are already starting to see some very light rain showers in southeastern Minnesota right now, down around [? Fair ?] That's a separate system. But we could see one or two sprinkles wandering the Twin Cities. But it's that central and northern part of the state that we'll watch for significant snowfall.
CHRIS FARRELL: Now, when you say significant snowfall, what does that mean to you, as a meteorologist? To me, it means like an inch.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: Oh, well, then we could be included in that, too, in the Twin Cities. But the main axis of heavy snow is going to be tomorrow into tomorrow night, from basically Fergus Falls to Brainerd, Hibbing, the Iron Range up to Duluth in the North Shore. Those areas could see up to 6 to 10 plus inches of snow. It's about 3 to 6, Bemidji to International Falls. Again, 6 to 10 plus, Duluth, the North Shore to Ely up to Grand Marais.
And then as we go south, there will be lesser amounts, probably 1-3 in St. Cloud. And in the Twin Cities, we can expect a coating, to as much as an inch or two. That will fall mostly tomorrow night into early Wednesday. So it could slicken up the roads here for early Wednesday morning or tomorrow night, if you're going to be traveling. But I think it's going to be well after dark tomorrow, that we see that changeover. And importantly, a lot of liquid in this storm, a half inch to 3/4 of an inch of liquid equivalent precipitation. Remember, most of the state is abnormally dry, or in drought, right now.
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah. So AAA says, one of the busiest Thanksgiving travel days on the road is going to be tomorrow, from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM. So all right, you're one of those people. How about timing your travel?
SVEN SUNDGAARD: The earlier, the better, tomorrow. If you can leave in the morning, that's going to be better than the afternoon or evening, especially if you're headed North. Now during the day tomorrow, Twin Cities and Southern Minnesota, we're talking about just scattered rain showers during the day. It will turn to snow for us later in the evening, probably in the 7:00 to 10:00 PM frame. So if you can get out before that, you'll be probably OK. And then, we'll see that quick burst of snow here, that inch or two of slush, tomorrow night.
But the snow will start already late tonight in Northwestern Minnesota, and then slowly expand east across Northern Minnesota tomorrow. Heaviest snowfall there is probably going to fall in the afternoon, evening, and overnight hours. So again, the earlier the better.
We're also going to have wind with this system. Western Minnesota, late tomorrow, 15 to 25 mile an hour winds, gusts over 40. And that wind will expand East overnight, so we could see some blowing and drifting. Even though the snow will be done early Wednesday, those rural open areas could see some drifting back over the roadways.
CHRIS FARRELL: Now, I know we're forecasting about the weather, but wasn't this weekend just incredible? On Sunday, I took a walk around Lake Harriet. I mean, it was beautiful. It was something.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: In fact, we set a record yesterday. Record high of 56, broke 120-year-old record. St Cloud and Brainerd also broke records. Remember, 10 days ago was 72 degrees. That'll be a distant memory. We've got much colder air moving in. It was subzero in the Yukon territory this morning. And that's the air mass headed our way.
So highs Wednesday into the weekend and next week, subfreezing statewide. And I don't see us crawling out of that for a while. So we're talking about highs in the 20s's, overnight lows in the teens, and even single digits in Northern Minnesota. And the cold, yeah, it's lingering into at least next week.
CHRIS FARRELL: Well, thank you very much. As always, it's great to talk to you.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: You bet, Chris.
CHRIS FARRELL: MPR News Meteorologist, Sven Sundgaard.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: Hi. How are you?
CHRIS FARRELL: Good. All right. Well, I think I'm good. It depends on what you're going to tell us about, but, OK. Tell us about this Winter Storm Watch for the northern part of the state.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: Yeah, I'm only the messenger, remember.
CHRIS FARRELL: I remember, yes.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: We've got a Winter Storm Watch across much of Northern Minnesota, basically a line from Morris through St. Cloud, Moose Lake, everything north of there, with the exception of the far northwest corner of the state, up around Roseau, is under that Winter Storm Watch. And that means there's the potential for more than several inches of snowfall here, over the next couple of days.
And we are already starting to see some very light rain showers in southeastern Minnesota right now, down around [? Fair ?] That's a separate system. But we could see one or two sprinkles wandering the Twin Cities. But it's that central and northern part of the state that we'll watch for significant snowfall.
CHRIS FARRELL: Now, when you say significant snowfall, what does that mean to you, as a meteorologist? To me, it means like an inch.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: Oh, well, then we could be included in that, too, in the Twin Cities. But the main axis of heavy snow is going to be tomorrow into tomorrow night, from basically Fergus Falls to Brainerd, Hibbing, the Iron Range up to Duluth in the North Shore. Those areas could see up to 6 to 10 plus inches of snow. It's about 3 to 6, Bemidji to International Falls. Again, 6 to 10 plus, Duluth, the North Shore to Ely up to Grand Marais.
And then as we go south, there will be lesser amounts, probably 1-3 in St. Cloud. And in the Twin Cities, we can expect a coating, to as much as an inch or two. That will fall mostly tomorrow night into early Wednesday. So it could slicken up the roads here for early Wednesday morning or tomorrow night, if you're going to be traveling. But I think it's going to be well after dark tomorrow, that we see that changeover. And importantly, a lot of liquid in this storm, a half inch to 3/4 of an inch of liquid equivalent precipitation. Remember, most of the state is abnormally dry, or in drought, right now.
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah. So AAA says, one of the busiest Thanksgiving travel days on the road is going to be tomorrow, from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM. So all right, you're one of those people. How about timing your travel?
SVEN SUNDGAARD: The earlier, the better, tomorrow. If you can leave in the morning, that's going to be better than the afternoon or evening, especially if you're headed North. Now during the day tomorrow, Twin Cities and Southern Minnesota, we're talking about just scattered rain showers during the day. It will turn to snow for us later in the evening, probably in the 7:00 to 10:00 PM frame. So if you can get out before that, you'll be probably OK. And then, we'll see that quick burst of snow here, that inch or two of slush, tomorrow night.
But the snow will start already late tonight in Northwestern Minnesota, and then slowly expand east across Northern Minnesota tomorrow. Heaviest snowfall there is probably going to fall in the afternoon, evening, and overnight hours. So again, the earlier the better.
We're also going to have wind with this system. Western Minnesota, late tomorrow, 15 to 25 mile an hour winds, gusts over 40. And that wind will expand East overnight, so we could see some blowing and drifting. Even though the snow will be done early Wednesday, those rural open areas could see some drifting back over the roadways.
CHRIS FARRELL: Now, I know we're forecasting about the weather, but wasn't this weekend just incredible? On Sunday, I took a walk around Lake Harriet. I mean, it was beautiful. It was something.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: In fact, we set a record yesterday. Record high of 56, broke 120-year-old record. St Cloud and Brainerd also broke records. Remember, 10 days ago was 72 degrees. That'll be a distant memory. We've got much colder air moving in. It was subzero in the Yukon territory this morning. And that's the air mass headed our way.
So highs Wednesday into the weekend and next week, subfreezing statewide. And I don't see us crawling out of that for a while. So we're talking about highs in the 20s's, overnight lows in the teens, and even single digits in Northern Minnesota. And the cold, yeah, it's lingering into at least next week.
CHRIS FARRELL: Well, thank you very much. As always, it's great to talk to you.
SVEN SUNDGAARD: You bet, Chris.
CHRIS FARRELL: MPR News Meteorologist, Sven Sundgaard.
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