Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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I’ll get to the weekend forecast shortly, but I’ll first give you an update on our Thursday weather.

Don’t be alarmed if you hear sirens Thursday at 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.:

 in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Here are details of the warning drills and siren activations:

Snow, rain, strong winds in some areas Thursday afternoon

A strong low-pressure system centered over north-central Wisconsin will continue to bring periods of snow to much of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin Thursday afternoon. 

There will be a mix of rain and snow at times, especially from the Twin Cities metro area into southeastern Minnesota and southern Wisconsin.

A winter weather advisory continues until 7 p.m. in northeastern Minnesota, with a winter storm warning until 7 a.m. Friday in parts of northwestern Wisconsin:

Here are details of the winter weather advisory:

And here are details of the winter storm warning in portions of northwestern Wisconsin:

There’s a wind advisory until 7 p.m. for several northwestern Minnesota counties along the Red River and also in much of west-central and southwestern Minnesota, where gusts to 55 mph are possible:

Big Stone and Traverse counties in west-central Minnesota are in a high-wind warning until 7 p.m., with gusts to 60 mph possible.

Portions of southwestern Minnesota (shaded blue) are in a winter weather advisory until 10 p.m. for 1 to 4 inches of snow plus wind gusts as high as 55 mph.

Bands of snow will cause periods of low visibilities in many areas Thursday afternoon.

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 

Our temps have been very chilly the past few days, but milder temps are on tap for the weekend.

Saturday highs will be mainly in the 40s, but some spots in central Minnesota and the Twin Cities could top 50:

Saturday afternoon wind gusts will be in the 10 to 14 mph range in many areas:

A few gusts around 20 mph are possible in and near the Red River Valley in northwestern Minnesota. Forecast wind gusts are in knots, with 11 knots equal to 12.7 mph.  

Back to temperatures, Sunday highs will reach the 50s from central and southern Minnesota into western Wisconsin, with some 40s in northern Minnesota:

Best Sunday rain chance in western Minnesota

Saturday looks dry and bright. Rain showers are expected to move into western Minnesota on Sunday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 7 a.m. Sunday to 7 p.m. Sunday:

A few showers could spread into the Twin Cities metro area by Sunday evening. Check forecast updates of you have outdoor plans Sunday afternoon and evening.

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

Are you ready for milder temps? That’s what we have on tap for the weekend. Some spots could see some rain Sunday afternoon and evening. We have the details.

Weekend weather: Milder temps; brightest day will be Saturday

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