Cold through this weekend; PM flake chances in some areas
Updated Minnesota snow depth map
We have ample snow cover for sledding and cross-country skiing across most of Minnesota right now. The Thursday morning snow depth map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office shows 12 inches or more of snow cover in roughly the northern half of Minnesota:
Much of Cook County and portions of Lake County in northeastern Minnesota have more than 24 inches of snow on the ground. Northern Minnesota has seen some additional snow since the map was posted on Thursday
Twin Cities metro area snow depths are in the 4 to 7 inch range, and parts of southwestern Minnesota have little or no snow cover right now.
Cold Saturday, with flake chances in some areas
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Much of northern Minnesota had Saturday morning lows in the 20s below zero. Some spots in far northern Minnesota dipped below -30. The Saturday morning low at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was -7.
Saturday afternoon highs will be in the single digits above zero in most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with a few teen in southwestern Minnesota.
Northwestern and west-central Minnesota could see some light snow toward mid and late afternoon, with that snow chance spreading into southern Minnesota Saturday evening. The Twin Cities metro area could see a few light snow showers Saturday evening.
Sunday snow chances?
Another clipper system could spread light snow into northwestern and west-central Minnesota Sunday afternoon. That light snow may then spread across much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday evening. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from noon Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday:
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.
Temperature trends
Low temps early Sunday morning will range from single digits below zero in southern Minnesota to 20s below zero in parts of the north:
Sunday highs range from 20s in southwestern Minnesota to single digits in the far north:
Metro area highs will be in the low to mid teens on Sunday. Our average Twin Cities high is 28 degrees on Feb. 13.
Saturday wind gusts will be in the 7 to 12 mph range in most areas, but higher gusts are expected in northwestern Minnesota:
Forecast gusts are in knots, with 9 knots equal to 10.4 mph.
Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 20 on Monday, followed by lower 30s on Tuesday and around 30 on Wednesday. Our metro highs will then retreat to the upper teens on Thursday, before rebounding to around 30 on Friday.
Weather nugget
In the Twin Cities, we have 10 hours and 19 minutes of daylight this time of year. By March 12, we’ll add another hour and 25 minutes of daylight. Our hours of daylight peak during the third week of June, when we’ll have over 15 and a half hours between our sunrise and our sunset.
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.