March storm brings wintry mix to Minnesota Friday night into Sunday

It’s warmer again for most of Minnesota early Saturday morning. Temperatures are mainly in the 20s for central and southern Minnesota. Northeastern Minnesota continues to cling to some frigid air with several places in the teens below zero.

We’ll see milder temperatures again Friday afternoon after our one cooler day Thursday. Expect high temperatures mainly in the 30s to near 40 in the south and 20s north.

Overnight temperatures will be critical to watch as a wintry mix of sleet, freezing rain, rain and snow moves in from the southwest across the state. Areas that drop below freezing Friday night will see the potential for ice whereas areas in the south that stay above freezing will see plain rain and sleet.

Expect the first rounds of precipitation late this evening. The best chance to see ice accumulation is 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday night into early Saturday.

For southeastern Minnesota we’ll see mainly rain during the day Saturday with even some thunder. Central Minnesota will see a mix of precipitation types. Everyone will see precipitation switch over to snow Saturday evening and overnight. That’s when we will see snowfall accumulations.

Most models agree on a narrow swath of snowfall across west central Minnesota through central Minnesota and up the North Shore. The European model is the most aggressive with snowfall for the Twin Cities area.

Behind this system, we’ll be a little cooler Sunday and Monday before seeing temperatures near 40 in the south again Tuesday. Colder air moves in late next week.