Warmer Sunday; snow chance Sunday night

Saturday felt more like February than March. Some spots will end this wintry day with Saturday evening snowflakes.

Northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin will have the best chance of accumulating snow Saturday evening and overnight Saturday night.

Some spots in the northern third of Minnesota could see 1 to 2 inches of snow by late Saturday night. Here’s the NWS snow forecast for northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, with “tonight” referring to Saturday night:

There’s a winter weather advisory Saturday evening in portions of northwestern Minnesota, for snow and blowing snow:

Here are details of the advisory:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 228 PM CST Sat Mar 12 2022 MNZ001-004-005-007-008-013>015-NDZ008-016-027-030-130600- /O.CON.KFGF.WW.Y.0027.000000T0000Z-220313T0600Z/ West Polk-Kittson-Roseau-West Marshall-East Marshall-Pennington- Red Lake-East Polk-Pembina-Eastern Walsh-Grand Forks-Traill- Including the cities of Crookston, East Grand Forks, Hallock, Karlstad, Lancaster, Roseau, Warroad, Greenbush, Warren, Stephen, Argyle, Newfolden, Middle River, Grygla, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Falls, Fosston, Fertile, McIntosh, Erskine, Cavalier, Walhalla, Drayton, Pembina, Neche, St. Thomas, Grafton, Park River, Grand Forks, Mayville, Hillsboro, Hatton, and Portland 228 PM CST Sat Mar 12 2022 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT... * WHAT...Snow. Additional snow accumulations of up to two inches. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph. * WHERE...Portions of northwest Minnesota and northeast and southeast North Dakota. * WHEN...Until midnight CST tonight. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. Widespread blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The falling snow could impact evening travel. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions for North Dakota can be found at dot.nd.gov/travel and for Minnesota at 511mn.org, or by calling 5 1 1 in either state.

Central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin are expected to see lower snow accumulations. The Twin Cities metro area has a chance of a few light snow showers or flurries Saturday evening.

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.

Sunday night snow chances

Snow will spread across portions of central and northern Minnesota and into Wisconsin Sunday night, then linger in the east early Monday morning.

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

NOAA’s High-Resolution Rapid-Refresh (HRRR) model shows a similar pattern, with a narrower snow area:

The Twin Cities metro area is along the southern edge of the accumulating snow Sunday night into early Monday, but some mixed precipitation is also possible and there could be some slick spots on the roads Monday morning. Check forecast updates.

Temperature trends

Sunday highs will range from 40s in southern Minnesota to 20s in far northern Minnesota:

Metro area highs are forecast to reach the lower 40s. Our average Twin Cities high is 40 degrees this time of year.

Winds will be gusting over 20 mph in parts of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Sunday:

Forecast gusts are in knots, with 18 knots equal to 20.7 mph.

Back to temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 30s on Monday, followed by around 50 Tuesday, mid 50s Wednesday, upper 40s Thursday and lower 50s on Friday.

You may want to enjoy some sledding or cross-country skiing on Sunday—-our snow cover will be shrinking this week.

Daylight saving time

Daylight saving time begins at 2 a.m. on Sunday. If you have some clocks that need to be reset manually, turn them ahead one hour before you go to sleep Saturday night. The NWS reminds us that this is also a good time to check or replace batteries in smoke detectors and NOAA weather radios:

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.