Heavy snow headed to southern Minnesota late Sunday night and Monday
Monday snow amounts lower in the metro area
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Yes, there’s snow in our Monday forecast, but March snow usually melts within a few days.
Southwestern Minnesota could see some rain showers by Sunday evening. Those showers change to snow by late evening. As we go from late Sunday night through Monday, the snow will spread across much of southern and central Minnesota and into parts of Wisconsin.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern for Sunday evening through Monday evening:
The snow is expected to arrive in the southwestern part of the Twin Cities metro area by mid to late morning on Monday, but it may hold off until Monday afternoon in the northeastern part of the metro. The snow could mix with drizzle or freezing drizzle in parts of Minnesota.
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Snow amounts and advisories/warnings
Forecast snow amounts through Monday are highest in southwestern and south-cenral Minnesota, where some 5 to 8+ inch totals are possible:
Winter storm warnings start at 1 a.m. Monday and continue until 4 p.m. Monday in the pink shaded areas on the following map,:
Monday winter weather advisories are shaded blue.
Here are details of the warnings and advisories:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 328 AM CDT Sun Mar 14 2021 ...HEAVY SNOW ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA LATE TONIGHT INTO MONDAY... .A Winter Storm Warning is in effect from 1 AM tonight to 4 PM CDT Monday for areas south of a line from Redwood Falls to Mankato and Waseca. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for the rest of southern Minnesota from 4 AM to 4 PM CDT Monday. A band of precipitation will lift northeast into southern Minnesota late tonight, quickly becoming all snow. This will be a heavy, wet snow with rates of over an inch per hour possible. The snow will taper off during the late morning into early afternoon on Monday. Total accumulations of 5 to 8 inches are expected in the warning area with 3 to 5 inches expected in the advisory area. MNZ073-074-082>084-091>093-142000- /O.UPG.KMPX.WS.A.0005.210315T0600Z-210315T2100Z/ /O.NEW.KMPX.WS.W.0004.210315T0600Z-210315T2100Z/ Redwood-Brown-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca-Martin-Faribault- Freeborn- Including the cities of Redwood Falls, New Ulm, St James, Mankato, Waseca, Fairmont, Blue Earth, and Albert Lea 328 AM CDT Sun Mar 14 2021 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 4 PM CDT MONDAY... * WHAT...Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 8 inches and ice accumulations of a light glaze. * WHERE...Portions of south central and southwest Minnesota. * WHEN...From 1 AM to 4 PM CDT Monday. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult. Patchy blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning and evening commutes. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. 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.
The Twin Cities metro area is not in a winter weather advisory for Monday, but we’ll see some snow, which could be mixed with light rain or drizzle at times. Some forecast models show two to three inches of snow in the metro area on Monday, with the highest totals in the south and southwest metro….check updates.
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.
Temperature trends
Sunday highs will be mainly in the 40s, with some 30s in northeastern Minnesota. Our average Twin Cities high temp is 40 degrees this time of year. Parts of the metro area could see Sunday highs in the upper 40s to around 50.
Monday highs will be mainly in the 30s to the south, with some 40s in parts of northern Minnesota:
It’ll be breezy again on Monday, with gusts of 20 to 25 mph in many areas:
Plotted gusts are in knots, with 20 knots equal to 23 mph.
Temperature trends
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 40s Tuesday, followed by upper 40s Wednesday and Thursday and 50 on Friday. We could see highs in the 50s next weekend.
Warmer than normal temps may then linger into the following week. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for above-normal temps in Minnesota and western Wisconsin from March 21 through March 27:
Record stretch in 2012
The record Twin Cities high temperature for March 14 is 73 degrees, set in 2012. We had a stretch of 7 days in March 2012 where we set 6 daily record highs:
The March 17, 2012 high of 80 degrees set a new Twin Cities record for our earliest 80 in any year.
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.
