Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Two batches of snow this weekend; temps retreat again

Update on snow amounts and timing

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Snow covers the ground in St. Paul on Friday.
Ron Trenda | MPR News

We’ll be adding to our snow cover this weekend.

Much of western and northern Minnesota saw snow Friday afternoon, and the snow is spreading into eastern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin Friday evening. Some slick spots can be expected on roads.

Parts of the Twin Cities metro area could see an inch of snow Friday evening. Higher amounts are expected in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

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Friday night snow forecast
National Weather Service

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 snow chances

Another batch of snow moves into western Minnesota Saturday afternoon, then spreads into eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin Saturday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from noon Saturday to 6 a.m. on Sunday:

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Simulated radar from noon Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Central Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area could see about one inch of snow Saturday evening, with a couple of inches possible in southern Minnesota.

Sunday snow chances

Another batch of snow moves into western Minnesota Sunday afternoon, then spreads eastward Sunday evening. That batch of snow could arrive in Twin Cities around 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. on Sunday, then linger overnight Sunday night, with a couple inches of snow possible.

NOAA’s NAM model shows the potential snow pattern Sunday afternoon through Sunday night:

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Simulated radar from noon Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

There could be some slick roads for the Monday morning commute.

Snow summary

Here’s the NWS summary of snow potential through this weekend:

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Forecast snow amounts this weekend
National Weather Service

Our average Twin Cities high temp is 23 degrees this time of year. Twin Cities temps could be in the lower 20s at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. on Saturday, followed by falling temps. Metro area temps are expected to be in the teens for much of Saturday afternoon. Here’s a look at 3 p.m. CDT temps on Saturday:

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Saturday 3 p.m. forecast temps
National Weather Service

Sunday highs range from 20s in southwestern Minnesota to single-digits in the northeast:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Some of the mildest temps in southern Minnesota could occur Sunday evening.

Twin Cities metro area temps may be in the lower 20s before sunrise on Monday, with metro area temps falling into lower teens by Monday afternoon. Twin Cities highs will be around 3 above zero on Tuesday, followed by mid-teens Wednesday, upper 20s Thursday and mid 20s on Friday.

How’s February looking?

The NWS Climate Prediction Center isn’t showing a tendency for warmer than normal or colder than normal temps in February:

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February temperature outlook
NWS Climate Prediction Center

If we end up near-normal in February, that would be OK with me! Our average Twin Cities high temp is 24 degrees on Feb. 1, and rises to 34 degrees by Feb. 28.

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.