Freezing drizzle moves into parts of Minn. Sat. afternoon; change to snow Sat. evening

Snow is falling over parts of northeastern Minnesota Saturday morning, and periods of snow will continue there this afternoon and tonight, with patchy freezing drizzle also possible.

It’s been a quiet Saturday morning in southern Minnesota, but a low-pressure system passing to our south will spin moisture over much of Minnesota and Wisconsin Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening/Saturday night.

The temperature profile of the atmosphere will allow periods of drizzle, freezing drizzle and some flakes this afternoon in southern and central Minnesota, plus parts of western Wisconsin. Portions of southern Minnesota could also see some light freezing rain. Untreated roads and sidewalks will have icy spots. Some locations in the southern third of Minnesota could see one-tenth of an inch or so of ice Saturday afternoon and evening.

Here in the Twin Cities metro area, our best chance of drizzle and freezing drizzle would be from mid and late afternoon into early Saturday evening. There could also be a few flakes in the mix this afternoon/early evening. The mix then transitions to all snow and continues overnight and into Sunday morning. The snow may linger into Sunday afternoon in northeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from noon Saturday through 6 p.m. on Sunday:

Areas where no precipitation is shown may see some drizzle and freezing drizzle; drizzle often isn’t depicted well on radar and within forecast models.

Advisories

Winter weather advisories continue this Saturday afternoon and overnight for the metro area plus much of Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin:

The advisory ends at midnight Saturday night in most of western Minnesota. The Winter weather advisory continues until noon Sunday in southeastern Minnesota and continues into Sunday afternoon in southwestern Wisconsin.

How much snow?

The Twin Cities metro area can expect generally around one inch of snow overnight/early Sunday. Parts of the far southeast metro could be closer to 2 inches. 3 to 4 inches of snow are possible tonight and early Sunday in southeastern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin:

Areas along and near the North Shore of Lake Superior could see 3-6 inches of snow…there’s a winter weather advisory up there today and tonight:

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.

Temperature trends

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 25 degrees on Jan. 30. Metro-area highs will probably creep into the lower 30s this Saturday. Southern and central Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin could also reach the lower 30s, with mainly 20s in northern Minnesota. It’ll be breezy today.

Sunday highs reach the lower 30s in many areas, with 20s in northwestern Minnesota:

Sunday winds will be light in much of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with gusts of 11 mph or less:

Higher gusts are expected in western Minnesota and far northeastern Minnesota.

Plotted wind gusts are in knots, with 8 knots equal to about 9 mph and 12 knots equal to 14 mph.

Back to temperatures, metro-area highs are projected to be around 30 degrees Monday and Tuesday, followed by mid 30s Wednesday and upper 20s on Thursday. We might only reach the upper teens on Friday. Some models show a rain/snow chance in the metro area Wednesday night and Thursday, with a light snow chance Friday morning.

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.