Wintry mix Thursday night, another storm Friday

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Parts of southwestern Minnesota will have areas of dense fog Sunday night into early Monday. Patchy fog is also possible elsewhere in Minnesota into Monday morning.

The daylight hours of Monday look fairly quiet in most areas, but southwestern Minnesota could see some patchy drizzle/freezing drizzle at times. The main weather event rolls into Minnesota Monday night and Tuesday.

Computer models show a low pressure system becoming more organized over Colorado Monday evening, then tracking northeastward Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday. It’ll spread plenty of moist air over the Upper Midwest. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System (GFS) model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 p.m. Wednesday:

Heavy snow (6+ inches) will be possible Tuesday into Wednesday in the colder air over western Minnesota and central and northern Minnesota.  Some forecast models show that double-digit totals will be possible in the heaviest snow bands. Freezing rain could also be a problem at times from southwestern and west-central Minnesota through central Minnesota and into northeastern Minnesota. Periods of light snow will continue in many areas on Thursday, as the low pressure system moves slowly to the east.

The Twin Cities metro area, southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin will be in the milder air to start, so those areas could start with a wintry mix Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday night (with light freezing rain possibly included in that mix at times), then mainly rain for awhile on Wednesday followed by a wintry mix and then periods of snow Wednesday night into Thursday.  The storm track and temperature profile will become more certain as we get closer to Tuesday and Wednesday. A shift in the track and slightly cooler temps would give the metro area more hours of snow and fewer hours of rain or a wintry mix Tuesday into Wednesday. 

Freezing rain could spread across portions of Minnesota late Monday night and Tuesday.

Snow totals of 6 inches or more are possible in some areas Tuesday and Tuesday night: 

Northern Minnesota will see mainly snow, with some icing also possible. Here are potential snow totals in the northwest, via the Grand Forks NWS office:

The Duluth NWS office depicts snow potential for northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

Periods of light snow are expected on Thursday and Thursday night as the low pressure system drifts slowly eastward:

A winter storm watch begins Monday evening for portions of northwestern and west-central Minnesota:

A winter storm watch begins late Monday night in southwestern Minnesota and begins Tuesday morning in central Minnesota:

Here are details of the winter storm watch in central Minnesota:

A winter storm watch begins Tuesday evening in northeastern Minnesota:

Here are details of the winter storm watch in northeastern Minnesota:

Parts of the winter storm watch areas could be converted to warnings or advisories as we get closer to the winter storm start time. There may also be counties added to the winter storm watch.

You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News 

Monday afternoon wind chill temps will be in the teens to the west, with 20s in the east:

Back to high temperatures, Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid to upper 30s on Tuesday, followed by upper 30s Wednesday then mid 30s Thursday and upper 20s on Friday.

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Computer models still show a wintry mess in much of Minnesota Tuesday into Wednesday. We have the latest info on the winter storm that will slow commutes in Minnesota and portions of Wisconsin and North Dakota.

Winter storm will slow Minnesota commutes on Tuesday and Wednesday

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