Winter storm warnings in northern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Minnesota’s recent active weather pattern turns quieter in the coming week, following a light dusting for most on Friday that could bring up to 4 inches of snow along the western edge of the state.

The state is off to a seasonably cold start Friday morning, with single digits north and teens south as of 8:30 a.m. However, northern Minnesota would have been colder except for cloud cover. In central Minnesota, where skies were clear and winds were calm, a few spots are below zero.

Under mostly cloudy skies, high make it into the teens north and low 20s south, which is 5 to 10 degrees below average, but very typical for mid-December.

The skies turn cloudier thanks to a disturbance which also brings snow back to the state. In fact, there are already a couple snow showers on the west-central edge of Minnesota as of 7 a.m. 

Snow slowly expands across Minnesota during the day and into the overnight, but it is very light, with most places forecast to see less than an inch.  

West-central Minnesota is the one area snow could be more persistent, with up to 4 inches of snow. Because the snow may cause travel impacts, that portion of the state is under a winter weather advisory beginning at noon.  

That snow moves out by Saturday morning, then the pattern turns very quiet at least through the middle of next week. 

No additional precipitation is likely until a snow chance Tuesday that currently looks light. 

For temperatures, Friday’s disturbance reinforces the already chilly weather. So, highs Saturday are forecast to be a couple degrees cooler, ranging from highs in the single-digits northwest to low 20s southeast. 

Highs nudge back slightly above average Sunday and Monday, with most of Minnesota in the 20s and a few 30s south. (For perspective, the “normal” highs for International Falls and the Twin Cities are respectively 20 and 28 for Dec. 17.)

Then, the same disturbance that could bring light snow Tuesday is also likely to drop temperatures slightly again.

Here is that Twin Cites forecast through Tuesday:

Despite a few fluctuations, the overall temperature trend is very typical for this time of year. 

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Nicole Mitchell 

Author

Minnesota’s recent active weather pattern turns quieter in the coming week, following a light dusting for most on Friday that could bring up to 4 inches of snow along the western edge of the state.


Light snow Friday, then Minnesota sees a quieter trend

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox