Wind, rain and thunder today, followed by some snow

Do you prefer rain or snow in March? We’ll probably see some of both this weekend.

Strong winds will be with us this afternoon through Sunday. Soaking rains and occasional thunder can be expected today. Parts of Minnesota will see a changeover to a rain/snow mix this evening and to all snow at some point overnight.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday through Sunday afternoon:

Precipitation totals (rain plus the water content of snow) will be over one inch in many areas this weekend:

The yellow-shaded area is over 1.5 inches.

Potential snowfall totals Saturday night into Sunday look like this:

Totals of three to six inches are expected in parts of northeastern Minnesota:

Advisories

Here are details of the winter weather advisory in northeastern Minnesota:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...CORRECTED National Weather Service Duluth MN 419 AM CDT Sat Mar 28 2020 ...HEAVY WET SNOW EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING... .A strong spring storm system will bring a rain and snow mix to the Northland for Saturday through Sunday. Rain will spread across the area late Saturday morning and through the afternoon. Rain is expected to change to snow Saturday night, and back to rain during the day on Sunday. The precipitation will be associated with strong northeast winds Saturday night with gusts to 35 mph. Snowfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches are possible, along with some locally higher amounts along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Uncertainty in snowfall amounts remains based on how fast rain may change to snow, and the track of the storm. MNZ012-019>021-035>037-WIZ001-002-282115- /O.UPG.KDLH.WS.A.0003.200329T0000Z-200329T1800Z/ /O.COR.KDLH.WW.Y.0012.200329T0000Z-200329T1600Z/ Northern Cook and Lake-Central St. Louis-Southern Lake- Southern Cook-Northern Aitkin-South Aitkin- Carlton and South St. Louis-Douglas-Bayfield- Including the cities of Isabella, Hibbing, Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Grand Marais, Hill City, Aitkin, Duluth, Superior, Washburn, and Bayfield 419 AM CDT Sat Mar 28 2020 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 11 AM CDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Wet snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches. Strong northeast winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph are possible along the shoreline of Lake Superior, and especially in the Twin Ports. * WHERE...Portions of northwest Wisconsin and east central and northeast Minnesota. * WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 11 AM CDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult due to slippery, hazardous road conditions. The strong winds in the Twin Ports will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages could result. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. Road conditions can also be found at 511mn.org for Minnesota or 511wi.gov for Wisconsin.

There are lakeshore flood warnings in parts of the northeast as well:

A winter weather advisory includes much of central Minnesota and part of the Twin Cities metro area Saturday night and early Sunday:

Details of the advisory:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 319 AM CDT Sat Mar 28 2020 ...Rain Changing to Snow Tonight... .A strong storm system will move northeast through the region today through Sunday. Rain will overspread the area today, but temperatures will start to fall tonight as the storm system moves into northeast Iowa. The colder temperatures will help change rain to snow across portions of Minnesota, mainly near and west of I-35 during the evening hours. The changeover to snow will likely occur during heavier periods of precipitation, so snowfall rates will exceed a half inch per hour at times. Accumulations in the advisory area, which extends from near Redwood Falls and New Ulm northeast through Hutchinson, Princeton, and Mora, will range from 1 to locally 5 inches. At this time, it appears that the primary impacts will be primarily west and north of the Twin Cities metro area. In addition to the snowfall, northeast winds of 15 to 25 mph with higher gusts will become northwest by Sunday morning. MNZ043>045-049>053-057>061-065>068-073>075-281800- /O.NEW.KMPX.WW.Y.0012.200329T0200Z-200329T1400Z/ Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Stearns-Benton-Sherburne-Isanti- Chisago-Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Renville-McLeod- Sibley-Carver-Redwood-Brown-Nicollet- Including the cities of Little Falls, Princeton, Mora, St Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Elk River, Cambridge, Center City, Willmar, Litchfield, Monticello, Minneapolis, Blaine, Olivia, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Redwood Falls, New Ulm, and St Peter 319 AM CDT Sat Mar 28 2020 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM CDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...Wet snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 5 inches locally. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph. * WHERE...Portions of central, east central, south central and southwest Minnesota. * WHEN...From 9 PM this evening to 9 AM CDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions for the state you are calling from can be obtained by calling 5 1 1.

The southeastern part of the metro may see very little snow accumulation Saturday night, with a few inches possible in the far northwest part of the metro area. Accumulations will depend on the timing of the changeover to snow this evening/tonight.

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

An updated Updraft blog will be posted by 10 a.m. today