Periods of light snow into Thursday, then temps drop
Milder next week before Thanksgiving
Expect periods of light snow and flurries on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a cold snap with highs likely in the teens Friday and Saturday. Next week looks milder.
Light snow continues
It will be cooler than normal on Tuesday. High temperatures will be mainly from the upper 20s to low 30s. The Twin Cities should see about 33 degrees during the afternoon with a southeast breeze of 5 to 10 mph. Light snow will continue to stream north out of Iowa
Periods of light snow and flurries should stay with us on Wednesday and maybe into Thursday.
Road conditions will remain much better than they were on Monday thanks to chemical treatments and warmer temperatures. Most snowfall accumulations through Tuesday night will be around 1 to 3 inches. Lesser amounts are likely in the northwest corner.
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More heavy snow for northeastern Minnesota
Minnesota’s Arrowhead region will continue to get heavy lake-effect snow into Wednesday. A winter storm warning for Cook and Lake counties will continue until 6 a.m. Wednesday as easterly winds blow off Lake Superior.
The greatest accumulations will occur in upslope areas near the North Shore.
Colder temperatures coming
A cold front will jab into Minnesota from the northwest later on Wednesday. By Thursday we will be on its backside and temperatures will begin to crash.
Weekend cold snap
Friday and Saturday will be frigid days. High temperatures are likely to be only in the teens statewide for both days. These temperatures are at least 20 degrees colder than average for mid-November.
Parts of the state might moderate slightly on Sunday with highs reaching the low 20s.
Milder early next week
Milder but still colder-than-normal temperatures are likely early next week. Tuesday might end up being the mildest day next week.
Why were roads so icy, hazardous on Monday?
Roads quickly became icy and led to far more crashes and spinouts, some at rather high speed, than would be expected from such an event when Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport measured just 2.5 inches of snow.
I did some analysis of the conditions in my driveway to get at the answer. Here in a nutshell is what seems to have occurred:
·Some of the first snow that fell melted on contact with pavement that was above freezing.
·Chilly air temperatures in the mid 20s and cold falling snow froze that bit of water into a thin layer of ice. Snow that continued to fall remained cold and did not melt atop the ice.
There had been no previous snow events this fall to leave residual snow-melting chemicals on the roads.
Roads that probably looked wet to many drivers turned out to be icy and extremely slippery.