The start of spring brings snow to Minnesota
High winds and heavy rain will also be a concern
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Spring officially begins at 10:49 p.m. Thursday, and by that time most of Minnesota will either be seeing snow or will have new snow on the ground thanks to a strong storm.
Thursday’s storm
As of Thursday morning, a strong storm that will pass south of the state is already bringing snow to northern Minnesota and areas of rain and drizzle to southern Minnesota. The cloud cover associated with the weather kept temperatures mild overnight, so most of the state is starting off Thursday in the 30s. However, because of colder air the storm will bring in, temperatures will remain mostly steady through the day, and western Minnesota will see some temperatures begin to fall by afternoon. Here are the expected temperatures by 5 p.m.:
It will also become very windy across the entire state through the day, with western Minnesota seeing the highest winds and gusts over 40 mph.
Between the colder air and high winds, the western edge of the state will likely see wind chills below zero by Thursday night.
Because the storm center will pass south, southern parts of Minnesota could see some heavy rain at times, with some rain totals up to an inch or more. As temperatures cool, the rain in southern Minnesota will start to switch over to snow, starting in southwestern Minnesota by afternoon.
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The timing of the shift from rain to snow for southeastern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, is most likely to come late in the evening. Most of the state will see light amounts of snow under an inch. Southwestern Minnesota could see slightly higher amounts at 1 to 2 inches, and the Arrowhead could see 1 to 3 inches of snow with a little freezing precipitation mixed in.
Because of the active weather, much of Minnesota is under weather advisories Thursday.
The areas highlighted in brown are in a Wind Advisory for winds that could exceed 40 mph. The areas in purple are Winter Weather Advisories for snow and blowing snow in northwestern and southwestern Minnesota and for snow and possible freezing rain in the Arrowhead.
The snow moves out by Friday morning. That extended forecast will be updated around 9 a.m.
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:48 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.
