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Allow extra time to get to your destination through Friday evening. Snow will cause slippery roads and reduced visibilities across much of Minnesota and parts of west-central and southwestern Wisconsin. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 10 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 the northeastern part of the metro area will see lower snow totals than the southwestern half of the metro.

Parts of southwestern Minnesota could see 6 to 10 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 additional snow:

By Friday evening, it looks like Twin Cities metro area snow totals could range from 1 to 2 inches in eastern Anoka County and northern Washington County to 4 to 5 inches in Carver, Scott, Hennepin and western Dakota counties.

.  You can hover over any data point on the linked NWS snowfall map to see the location and time of the snow measurement.

Updated Minnesota road conditions can be found 

. Wisconsin road conditions can be found 

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) continue into Friday evening across most of west-central, southwestern and south-central Minnesota and to the western edge of the Twin Cities metro area:

The southwestern half of the Twin Cities metro area is in a winter weather advisory until 9 p.m. this Friday, for 3 to 5 inches of snow:

Here are details of the winter storm warning in southwestern Minnesota:

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories are also in effect until midnight Friday night for portions of northwestern Minnesota:

Winter weather advisories continue Friday and Friday night in portions of northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, due to lake-enhanced snow totals:

Northeastern Minnesota already has plenty of snow cover, but much of southwestern and south-central Minnesota had little or no snow cover on the Thursday report from the Minnesota State Climatology Office:

I imagine that many cross-country skiers, snowboarders and kids with sleds will be out this weekend enjoying the snow that’s falling today.

Saturday highs will be mainly in the teens:

Saturday winds will be light in most areas, but gusts of 18-25 mph are expected in northwestern Minnesota Saturday afternoon:

Forecast wind gusts are in knots, with 20 knots equal to 23 mph.

Back to temperatures, Sunday highs are expected to reach the 30s in many areas, with 20s in northeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 30 on Sunday, followed by upper 20s on Monday, which is Martin Luther King Day. 

After highs in the lower 30s Tuesday, it turns much colder Wednesday and Thursday, with highs in the single digits. We’ll have a chance of light snow Sunday and Tuesday.

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 will continue through Friday afternoon and into early evening across much of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin. We have an update on the winter storm, plus a look at our weekend weather.

Winter storm slows Friday travel; temps rebound after cool Saturday

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