Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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If your weekend plans include sledding, cross-country skiing or snowboarding, you’ll be happy to know that we have ample snow cover across most of Minnesota right now. 

The Thursday snow depth map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office shows 12 inches or more of snow cover in roughly the northern half of Minnesota, with 4 to 8 inches of snow cover in most of southern Minnesota:

Much of Cook County and portions Lake County in northeastern Minnesota have at least 2 feet of snow on the ground.

The official Twin Cities snow depth (measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) is currently 6 inches.

Snow is likely in northern Minnesota Saturday 

Northern Minnesota is likely to see periods of snow late Friday night and on Saturday.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 1 a.m. Saturday to 11 p.m. Saturday:

NOAA’s High-Resolution Rapid-Refresh model shows a Saturday snow pattern that extends a bit more to the south, with some light snow as far south as the Twin Cities:

We’ll see if the afternoon runs of these models are more consistent.

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 

Snow amounts of 2 to 4 inches are possible in northwestern Minnesota late Friday night and through Saturday:

Some spots near Baudette could see 5 inches. The yellow outline in the graphic above shows the area that has a winter weather advisory from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Snow amounts of 4 to 6 inches are possible Saturday in parts of northeastern Minnesota:

Winter weather advisories run from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday in much of north-central and northeastern Minnesota.

Friday night lows in the teens below zero and single digits below zero will happen in the late evening, with slowly rising temps after midnight.

By 6 a.m. CST Saturday, some spots in southern Minnesota will have risen above zero, with below-zero temps lingering in the north.

Saturday afternoon highs range from the 30s in southwestern Minnesota to teens in the far north:

A few spots in far southwestern Minnesota could top 40 degrees. Many spots in the Twin Cities metro area will reach the upper 20s Saturday afternoon. Our average Twin Cities high is 26 degrees this time of year.

We’ll have wind gusts of 25 mph or higher in many areas Saturday afternoon:

Forecast gusts are in knots, with 25 knots equal to 28.8 mph.

Back to temperatures, Sunday highs will be in the teens in many areas, with single digits in parts of northwestern and west-central Minnesota:

Wind gusts in the 15 to 20 mph range are expected Sunday afternoon.

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

Our mildest weekend temps will be Saturday afternoon, but it will also be breezy. We have your weekend forecast details, including some snow for northern Minnesota.

Weekend weather: Breezy, mild Saturday; quiet, cool Sunday

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