Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Weekend forecast: It'll feel like Dec.; Flake chance far SE Minn. Saturday

Accumulating snow parts of Iowa and southern Wis. Friday p.m. into Saturday

Snow-lovers in Minnesota will have to be patient, there aren’t any snowstorms in our immediate forecast. If you are travelling to Iowa or far southern Wisconsin Friday evening or Saturday, be prepared for some slippery roads due to a few inches of snow.

It’s already snowing in eastern Nebraska and parts of Iowa, and that snow will spread eastward this afternoon and Friday night, lingering into Saturday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Friday evening through Saturday.

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Simulated radar Friday evening through Saturday afternoon
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Winter weather advisories are already in effect for portions of eastern Nebraska and southwestern Iowa. Winter weather advisories begin Friday evening in much of eastern Iowa and parts of southwestern Wisconsin, and advisories begin at midnight Friday night in the Madison, Wis. area and southeastern Wisconsin.

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Winter weather advisories Friday evening through Saturday
National Weather Service

The advisories will continue through Saturday afternoon.

Far southeastern Minnesota may see a few light snow showers Friday evening or early Saturday. Far northern Minnesota will have a chance of light snow showers Sunday afternoon.

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

December 2010 blizzard

Ten years ago today the Twin Cities metro area and a good chunk of Minnesota, plus parts of western Wisc., were in the the middle of a blizzard. The blizzard dumped 16.3 inches of snow at MSP airport on Dec. 11, 2010, which brought our two-day storm total to 17.1 inches. Very strong winds and severely-reduced visibilities were experienced in many areas. The roof of the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis collapsed in the early morning hours of Sunday, Dec 12, 2010:

Collapsed Metrodome
Heavy snow collapsed the Metrodome early on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010.
MPR Photo/Tim Nelson

The video of the Dec. 12, 2010 Metrodome collapse still amazes me.

More details on the Dec. 2010 blizzard can be found in a 2010 post by the Minnesota State Climatology Office. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

The December 10-11 Blizzard is the 5th largest snowstorm on record for the Twin Cities since 1891.

The largest snowfall for the Twin Cities since the 1991 Halloween Blizzard began late Friday night and continued through the day on Saturday. 17.1 inches of snow fell at the Twin Cities International Airport. Not only is this the largest snowstorm on record for December for the Twin Cities, but this storm is the fifth (link is external) largest snowfall in a single storm to hit the Twin Cities since 1891. The highest snowfall total found in the state was 23 inches measured at Winona Dam. Three additional inches fell with a lighter snow storm on December 9th at Winona and is not included with the total.

Weekend temps and winds

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 28 degrees on Dec. 12. the metro area will probably top out in the lower 30s this Saturday. We’ll share the lower 30s with much of southern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Highs in the 20s are expected to the north.

It’ll be breezy on Saturday, with gusts of 14-22 mph:

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Saturday noon forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Plotted values are in knots, with 18 knots equal to about 21 mph.

Back to temperatures, Sunday highs will be in the 30s in the Twin Cities and much of the southern half of Minnesota, plus west-central Wisconsin:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Highs in the 20s are expected to the north.

Winds will be lighter in the Twin Cities metro area and points to the east and southeast on Sunday, with gusts of 11 mph or less:

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Sunday noon forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Wind gusts will be higher in western and northern Minnesota on Sunday.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

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