Frigid temperatures this weekend prompt cold weather advisories

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The flakes are coming back! Much of Minnesota will get enough snow to shovel and plow on Friday and Friday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 2 a.m. Friday to 11 p.m. Friday:

NOAA’s High-Resolution Rapid-Refresh model shows a similar precipitation pattern:

Notice that the Twin Cities metro area rides the eastern edge of the snow, so we’ll watch for any shift in the forecast models this afternoon. 

Parts of southwestern Minnesota could see 8 to 11 inches of snow by Friday evening, with lower totals to the east. The area shaded in red has the best odds of 6 or more inches of snow:

New model information will come in this afternoon. At this point, it looks like Friday/Friday evening snow totals in the Twin Cities metro area could range from 1 to 2 inches in Washington County to 4 to 5 inches in Carver County, Scott County and western Hennepin County. 

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News 

, and you can see updated weather info on the MPR News 

Winter storm warnings (shaded pink in the graphic below) start at midnight Thursday and continue through Friday evening in the areas of west-central and southwestern Minnesota that are most likely to see 6 or more inches of snow:

Blue shaded areas are winter storm watches for that same time period.

Here are winter storm warning details for southwestern Minnesota:

Here are details of the winter storm watch that includes Mankato starting at midnight tonight:

Winter storm warnings begin at 9 p.m. Thursday evening in Moorhead and Fergus Falls in northwestern Minnesota, and continue through Friday evening:

The winter weather advisory in the Detroit Lakes area begins at midnight.

Thursday highs will be in the 20s across much of Minnesota, with some 30s in the southern third of Minnesota plus parts of western Wisconsin. Some spots in the metro area will creep into the lower 30s. Our average Twin Cities high is 23 degrees this time of year.

Friday highs are mainly in the teens, with a few 20s in southwestern Minnesota:

The Twin Cities could touch 20 degrees Friday afternoon.

Sunday highs rebound to the 20s, with some lower 30s to the west:

We could see a bit of light snow on Sunday.

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.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Snow could slow down Friday’s morning and evening commutes. We have the forecast details, plus a look at our weekend weather.

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Heavy snow Friday in western Minnesota; Twin Cities may see 2-4 inches

Go Deeper.

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