Falling temperatures, gusty winds Monday as snow lingers in northern Minnesota

Updated: 9:15 a.m.

A strong storm continues to push snow across northern Minnesota Monday, while bringing the rest of the state high winds and falling temperatures.

More snow moves through Tuesday, then much of Minnesota could see the coldest weather since last February.

Monday’s forecast

A strong storm is moving across the state Monday, with the center of the storm sitting directly over central Minnesota as of 9 a.m., lifting north through the day and taking the precipitation with it.

This means the wet weather has already ended for the southern third of the state. The storm has also pushed some milder air into Minnesota — enough that although most places saw snow overnight, there has been some freezing precipitation on the trailing edge of the storm.

For example, Camp Ripley in central Minnesota is reporting freezing rain as of 9 a.m., and the Twin Cities metro area had freezing precipitation reports up until about 8 a.m. Tread carefully!

Meanwhile, in northern Minnesota, it is cold enough for the precipitation to stay as snow, and that is where the snow lingers longest. Additional snow totals up to 6 inches are possible, with more along the North Shore.

This is on top of some significant snowfall overnight.

Much of the Twin Cities reported 2 to 3 inches of snow, but near Brainerd in central Minnesota, there were numerous reports of more than a foot, including 18 inches reported near St. Mathias.

The combination of snow, ice and wind will make for slow driving even as the precipitation is diminishing this morning in southern and eventually central Minnesota.

Winds behind this storm will be strongest in southwestern Minnesota, with gusts that could exceed 50 mph. But most of Minnesota will see gusts over 30 mph Monday and over 40 mph as you head west and north.

The combination of all these concerns has central and northern Minnesota under a mix of advisories and warnings Monday, including a blizzard warning that goes until 10 a.m. around the Duluth area and until 6 p.m. for northern parts of the North Shore due to heavy snow and gusts over 45 mph.

The rest of northern Minnesota is under a winter storm warning for the combination of snow and wind.

Southwestern Minnesota has a wind advisory for gusts that may top 50 mph.

An influx of mild air with the storm will improve morning conditions quickly for the southern half of the state, although temperatures will fall through the afternoon.

Morning temperatures are still in the 20s for much of Minnesota but have already fallen into the teens west as of 9 a.m. By afternoon, most temperatures drop several more degrees.

Only northern Minnesota will see a few degrees of warming by the afternoon.

More snow and cold

That storm finally clears out of northern Minnesota by late Monday, but another storm is poised to bring more snow Tuesday.

Already by the wee hours of Tuesday morning, snow is expected to begin moving into western Minnesota, spreading across most of the state by late morning. This includes snow for the Twin Cities that is likely to start around the morning commute, so be prepared for delays.

Once again, the low pressure of the storm is forecast to track directly across Minnesota, although winds will not be as high with Tuesday’s storm.

It will also stay cold enough for most places to see all of the precipitation as snow versus the icy mix many areas got Monday morning. However, some freezing precipitation is still possible in southern Minnesota Tuesday afternoon.

The snowfall ends for most of the state by Tuesday night, although it may persist in the Arrowhead until early Wednesday.

Highest amounts are expected north again, with the Twin Cites currently forecast to get 2 to 4 inches of snow, and some portions of northern Minnesota could see up to 6 inches, with even more near the North Shore.

More sunshine finally returns Wednesday, but with much colder air behind Tuesday’s storm. Highs Wednesday will be in the negatives north and single digits south.

By Thursday morning, the entire state will be below zero, with some negative 20s possible north. That puts much of the state at least 20 degrees below average, and for many spots, it will be the coldest air since the arctic blast in February.

Here is that forecast for the Twin Cities:

Programming note

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