Weekend forecast: When is the best chance of snow?
Temps drop off by Sunday
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
If you have travel plans this weekend, you’re probably paying a lot of attention to weather forecasts.
I’ll walk you through the forecast for the next few days.
Friday and Friday evening
Spotty rain showers are possible in southern Minnesota Friday morning. Central and northern Minnesota could see some spotty snow showers or a wintry mix of flakes and spotty light freezing rain. The Twin Cities area could see scattered rain showers as temps rise overnight and Friday. A bit of light freezing rain cannot be ruled out in the northern part of the metro area.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern for Friday and Friday evening:
Turn Up Your Support
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.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News network, and you can see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
Saturday and Saturday evening
Snow is expected to spread into northwestern and west-central Minnesota Christmas morning, then expand eastward Saturday afternoon and evening.
NOAA’s NAM model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday and Saturday evening:
The metro area will see snow chances arriving late Saturday afternoon and continuing Saturday evening. It doesn’t take much snow to cause slick roads, so check forecast updates.
Sunday and Sunday evening
Forecast models don’t agree on the timing, but a plowable amount of snow is possible across much of Minnesota and portions of Wisconsin from Sunday afternoon and evening through the overnight hours and into early Monday. Check forecast updates if you have travel plans anytime from Sunday afternoon into Monday.
Temperature trends
Friday highs will reach the 40s across much of southern and central Minnesota, with 30s to the north:
Christmas Day highs will range from the single-digits and teens in northwestern Minnesota to 30s in far southeastern Minnesota:
Many spots in the metro area will reach the upper 20s on Christmas. Our average Dec. 25 high in the Twin Cities is 26.
Sunday highs will range from teens in northwestern Minnesota to 30s in the southeast:
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.
