Friday flakes followed by weekend chill; your weekend forecast details
Heavy snow Friday afternoon near Lake Superior
We’ll have your weekend forecast details in a moment. First, let’s get you through Friday afternoon and evening.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Friday afternoon through Friday evening and the overnight hours of Friday night:
The heaviest snow Friday afternoon through Friday night is expected to be over northeastern Minnesota, especially near Lake Superior:
Parts of northeastern Minnesota will see difficult travel, and winter storm warnings are in effect Friday afternoon through 6 a.m. Saturday along much of the North Shore:
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URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Duluth MN 1101 AM CST Fri Dec 13 2019 ...HEAVY LAKE EFFECT SNOW ALONG THE NORTH SHORE AND ACCUMULATING SNOW ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MINNESOTA TODAY AND TONIGHT...
Heavy lake effect snow will continue for portions of the North Shore today. An area of low pressure will move across northern Minnesota this afternoon and tonight and will bring a broad area of accumulating snow to inland portions of the Arrowhead west into northern St. Louis County. Light snow accumulation is expected over the remainder of the Northland. This snow should lead to hazardous travel conditions due to reduced visibility, less than 1 mile at times. The lowest visibility will be found in the Minnesota Highway 61 corridor where the heavy lake effect bands occur combined with southeasterly winds gusting to 15 to 25 mph, which could lead to blowing and drifting snow at times. Expect travel impacts for the Friday evening commute.
Updated info on the winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories in northeastern Minnesota are available from the Duluth office of the National Weather Service.
Lighter snow amounts over central and southern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin could slow our Friday afternoon commutes, and the light snow could be mixed with freezing drizzle at times.
You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
Snow moves east early Saturday
The snow lingers over parts of northeastern Minnesota and northern and western Wisconsin early Saturday, then most of the weekend looks dry across Minnesota until light snow returns to the northwest late Sunday afternoon.
NOAA’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon:
Weekend chill
Our average high temp is 27 degrees this time of year in the Twin Cities. We’ll only see highs in the teens on Saturday, with single-digit highs to the northwest:
Many areas will see slowly falling temperatures Saturday afternoon.
If you plan to be outdoors Saturday, dress for wind-chills in the teens below zero in western Minnesota:
Eastern Minnesota will have afternoon wind chills in the single-digits below zero.
Our coldest low temps this weekend will be Sunday morning:
Many locations in western and northern Minnesota will have lows in the teens below zero, with a few spots dipping below minus 20. Most of the Twin Cities metro area will start Sunday in the single digits below zero.
Sunday highs only reach the single digits above zero in many locations, including the Twin Cities.
Winds will be lightest on Sunday, but afternoon wind chill temps will be below zero:
Snow depth
We showed a regional map of snow cover in Thursday’s Updraft post. Now, we have a detailed Minnesota snow depth map, courtesy of the Minnesota State Climatology Office and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:
Note the large area in northeastern Minnesota with 18 to 24 inches of snow on the ground. As mentioned earlier, they’re seeing additional snow Friday into Friday night. The remainder of northern Minnesota and much of central Minnesota are in the 12 to 18-inch range of snow depth, with the Twin Cities in the 4 to 8-inch range.
I bet there’ll be many people out on their sleds, snowboards or skies this weekend. The map link also takes you to trail conditions around Minnesota.
For the birds
Explore Minnesota has dozens of festivals and other events around the state of Minnesota this weekend.
One outdoor activity that might be of interest is the Christmas Bird count on Saturday in Henderson Minnesota, which is in Sibley county:
Join us for our annual Christmas Bird Count! Families, professional birders, or 'newbies,' armed with bird guides and checklists, observe their bird feeding stations or explore select areas within a 7.5 mile radius of the Ney Nature Center. Simultaneously, thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas will take part in this adventure that has become a family tradition for generations.
The event is free and begins Saturday morning. More event info can be found here. Dress warmly, due to temps in the lower teens and below-zero wind chill temps on Saturday.