Several inches of snow Saturday night; good sledding on Sunday
Near-normal temps for a while
Snow is causing slick roads and reduced visibilities across much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin this Saturday evening.
Snow will continue in most areas through the evening hours, then taper off from west to east later Saturday night. A few light snow showers are possible past daybreak on Sunday in far southeastern Minnesota plus northeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Saturday evening through noon on Sunday:
For the bulk of the Twin Cities metro area, the snow is expected to taper off after about 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. on Sunday.
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Snow amounts and advisories
Generally 3 to 5 inches of snow are expected in the Twin Cities metro area by late Saturday night, with close to 6 inches possible in parts of the far south metro.
Weekend snow totals in the 3 inch to 6 inch range are forecast for much of the southern half of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin:
Lighter snow totals are expected to the north:
Winter weather advisories cover southern Minnesota plus parts of central Minnesota and western Wisconsin this Saturday evening and Saturday night:
Here are details of the NWS winter weather advisory that includes the Twin Cities metro area until 3 a.m. Sunday:
130 PM CST Sat Jan 23 2021 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 AM CST SUNDAY... * WHAT...Snow. Additional snow accumulations of 3 to 5 inches. * WHERE...Portions of central, east central, south central and southeast Minnesota. * WHEN...Until 3 AM CST 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. Road conditions can also be found at 511mn.org for Minnesota or 511wi.gov for Wisconsin.
A winter weather advisory continues to 6 a.m. Sunday in southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin. A winter weather advisory continues until 8 a.m. Sunday for portions of Cook County near Lake Superior…Grand Marais may see 3 to 4 inches of snow.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
Minnesota road conditions can be found here. Wisconsin road conditions can be found here.
Snow reports will be plotted by the NWS here.
Temperature trends
Sunday highs in the 20s are expected in the southeastern half of Minnesota plus western Wisconsin:
There will be some teens in central and northeastern Minnesota, with single-digit highs in the northwest.
Sunday afternoon wind gusts will be mainly in the 8 to 14 mph range, with higher gusts in northeastern Minnesota:
Plotted wind gusts are in knots, with 10 knots equal to 11.5 mph. Our Sunday weather sounds great for sledding or snowboarding!
Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 20 degrees on Monday, followed by lower 20s Tuesday and mid 20s Wednesday and Thursday. We could reach the lower 30s on Friday.
Mild (for January) temps may continue next weekend and into the start of the following week. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for above-normal temps in Minnesota and western Wisconsin from Jan. 29 through Feb. 2:
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.