Snow update for Saturday night and Sunday morning
Updated advisories
There’s snow in the forecast, but it’s worth mentioning that the temp hit 47 degrees Saturday afternoon at MSP airport. That’s 14 degrees warmer than our average Twin Cities high of 33 degrees for this date!
Now, on to the snow forecast.
Big picture
A low pressure system will spin moisture over the southern half of Minnesota and on into Wisconsin as we go from Saturday evening into Sunday morning.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern for Saturday evening through Sunday morning:
Southeastern Minnesota may have rain or a mix for several hours before the transition to snow.
The Twin Cities metro area could see a rain/snow mix by 10 or 11 p.m., then mostly snow after midnight.
Snow amounts
A swath of 2-4 inches of snow, with some smaller areas of 5 inches or so, is possible by Sunday morning from southwestern Minnesota through the Twin Cities metro area and on into Wisconsin:
Advisories
Winter weather advisories have been issued for this Saturday night into Sunday morning from southwestern Minnesota through the metro area and into west-central and northwestern Wisconsin:
The advisory starts at 6 p.m. in southwestern Minnesota, with a 9 p.m. start in the Mankato area. The winter weather advisory starts at midnight in the Twin Cities metro area and it’ll continue until 10 a.m. Sunday.
Here are details of the advisory in the Twin Cities:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 305 PM CST Sat Feb 27 2021 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW EXPECTED OVERNIGHT... .A quick moving system will impact the area beginning this evening through Sunday morning. A band of snow will set up from southwestern Minnesota up through northwest Wisconsin as a surface low deepens across Iowa. Snowfall totals generally look to be in the 3 to 5 inch range with amounts quickly tapering off on either side of the band. A narrow corridor of of 5 to 7 inches with isolated higher amounts appears most likely from near Marshall to Mankato. South central Minnesota may see more of a wintry mix at times, but little to no ice accumulation is expected. Precipitation will come to an end Sunday morning. MNZ059>063-068>070-078-280515- /O.EXT.KMPX.WW.Y.0007.210228T0600Z-210228T1600Z/ Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington-Carver-Scott-Dakota- Goodhue- Including the cities of Monticello, Minneapolis, Blaine, St Paul, Stillwater, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Shakopee, Hastings, and Red Wing 305 PM CST Sat Feb 27 2021 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 10 AM CST SUNDAY... * WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 5 inches. * WHERE...Portions of central, east central and southeast Minnesota. * WHEN...From midnight tonight to 10 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.
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.
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.