Higher temps come with an icy mix for southern Minnesota
Light freezing rain, snow or rain all possible through Friday
Anatomy of a wintry mix
Temperatures warm to near the freezing mark in Minnesota Wednesday.
When moisture encounters temperatures around freezing in the lowest mile of the atmosphere, a variety of wintry precipitation results. Freezing rain, rain, snow and ice pellets (sleet) are all possible. It just depends on where the above and sub-freezing air layers are located as precipitation falls through them to ground level.
Behold the wintry mix.
The short-range forecast models favor an icy tongue of moisture across southern Minnesota overnight into Wednesday morning. Some of that precipitation may graze the Twin Cities as light snow. Here's NOAA’s NAM 3 km model depiction of events.
Plenty of snow cover to play in
Snow cover across Minnesota is ample to deep. Here are some selected snow depth reports.
Twin Cities: 8 inches
Rochester, Minn.,: 7 inches
Alexandria, Minn.: 17 inches
Fargo, N.D.: 19 inches
International Falls, Minn.: 25 inches
Duluth: 28 inches
Babbitt, Minn.: 30 inches
Island Lake: 34 inches
Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center: 45 inches
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