Improving conditions Wednesday, brace for another storm late Thursday

A relatively quiet but colder Thanksgiving in between storm systems.

Weather photos from St. Paul
After plows carved a driving lane, residents cleared snow off parked cars in South St. Paul on Wednesday morning.
Andrew Krueger | MPR News

Except for the Northwest corner of Minnesota, most of the state saw at least some snow overnight. Now the digging out begins before round two!

Wednesday

Snow continues to move out, and winds, which are still gusting 30-40 mph as of Wednesday morning, will die down through Wednesday afternoon.

Here is a look at the snow totals that had been reported as of 9 a.m. around the Twin Cities:

Weather graphic
Snow reports as of 9 a.m. Wednesday
National Weather Service

For the most updated snow totals, you can see the snowfall reports here.

Our temperatures will stay mostly steady Wednesday, only going up a couple degrees in the afternoon, and ranging from the mid-20s to low 30s.

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Weather graphic
Wednesday afternoon temperatures.
National Weather Service

Thanksgiving

The holiday will be a quieter weather day, in between our two storms this week. However, temperatures will stay below average across Minnesota, with highs only in the 20s.

Weather graphic
Thursday highs
National Weather Service

Already by Thursday evening, we will start to see light snow move across Minnesota ahead of our next storm.

Another storm impact Minnesota Thursday night through Sunday


While the snow storm Tuesday-Wednesday moved through quickly and was mostly snow, the next storm system will have a larger area of precipitation, be slower moving, and have a longer impact. It will also be right on the temperature line where different part of Minnesota will see various combinations of rain, snow, and even some possible freezing rain.

So, there is still some uncertainty, but here is how things are shaping up:

The best chance for any ice comes on Friday, and particularly for Western Minnesota. Fortunately, it currently looks light it would stay light, with more of the precipitation coming as snow.

Weather graphic
Friday afternoon ice potential
National Weather Service

Snow totals will really vary with this system because some of Minnesota will be warm enough, especially on Saturday, that some of the precipitation will be rain. For Northern Minnesota, it is more likely to stay cold enough to see mostly snow, so heavy snow and blowing snow could be a problem, particularly Saturday.

Weather graphic
Snow potential for northwest Minnesota Friday to Sunday.
National Weather Service

Here is how that dividing line of rain/snow could set up on Saturday, but any slight changes in the temperature could impact which type of precipitation falls.

Weather graphic
Predominant weather for Saturday afternoon.
National Weather Service

It will also be windy on Saturday, so those seeing snow will contend with blowing snow and reduced visibility at times.

By Saturday night, temperatures will likely cool enough that precipitation across the state returns to mostly snow, and the snow lightens by Sunday morning and tapers-off through the day.

After Sunday, we have a stretch of weather that looks much quieter!

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.