Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

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The weather will cooperate with travel plans across Minnesota and Wisconsin today. There could be occasional snow flurries, but accumulating snow is not expected in most areas.

Meteorologists call it a white Christmas when there’s one inch or more of snow cover on Christmas morning. With only a trace of snow on the ground at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, this will not be considered a white Christmas in the Twin Cities. Of course, some Twin Cities metro locations with north-facing slopes or shaded lawns do have one inch or more of snow cover.

The Minnesota State Climatology Office has 

 info on our historical Christmas morning snow cover in the Twin Cities, as well as the long-term chances of a white Christmas for dozens of locations around Minnesota.

Highs today will range from the teens in the far northwest to lower 30s in southeastern Minnesota.

Our average high this time of year is 25 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area.

Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to reach the mid to upper 30s on Thursday, and falling temps are expected on Friday, possibly reaching the teens Friday afternoon.

Forecast models indicate that heavy snow is most likely from southwestern and central Minnesota through northern Minnesota from late Wednesday through early Friday.

Here's a summary of the projected snow totals and a map of counties that are in a winter storm watch:

Here are details on the central Minnesota portion of the winter storm watch:

The winter storm watch does not include the 7-county Twin Cities metro area. The metro area could see some snow Wednesday afternoon, with snow likely Wednesday evening. The snow is expected to change to rain in the metro area overnight Wednesday night, and rain is likely on Thursday.  Rain Thursday evening changes to snow at some point Thursday night, with snow into early Friday. Snow accumulations in the metro area will depend how long our precipitation stays in the form of snow, but general snow totals in the 2 to 5 inch range are expected in the metro area, with some higher totals possible on the northwest side of the metro. There could be some freezing rain at times Thursday night.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Wednesday through Friday morning:

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of snow and rain.

As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio 

, and you will also see updated weather info on the MPR News 

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Merry Christmas! The weather will cooperate with travel plans across Minnesota and Wisconsin today. There could be occasional snow flurries, but accumulating snow is not expected in most areas. Meteorologists call it a white Christmas when there’s one inch or more of snow cover on Christmas morning. With only a trace of snow on the ground at…

Good travel weather for Christmas; winter storm will bring heavy snow to much of Minnesota late Wednesday into early Friday

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