Frigid temperatures this weekend prompt cold weather advisories

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A  strong low-pressure system over the Great Lakes will continue to give us strong winds today and tonight and into early Saturday, creating areas of very low visibility in blowing snow. Wind chill temps will be dangerously cold.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the pressure pattern and the potential snowfall pattern from 5 p.m. today to 5 p.m. Sunday:

The Duluth NWS sent a later update saying that today’s peak wind gust at the Grand Marais harbor weather station was 64 knots, which is almost 74 mph.  

Many spots in Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have periodic wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph today into Saturday morning:

The National Weather Service has this criteria for blizzard warnings:

Blizzard warnings (red) continue this Friday and Friday night for much of western and southern Minnesota plus the southern part of the Twin Cities metro area and portions of Wisconsin:

Here are details of the blizzard warning:

Winter storm warnings for blowing and drifting snow continue in the northern part of the metro area until 6 a.m. Saturday.

Blizzard warnings continue until 8 a.m. Sunday in Lake and Cook County of northeastern Minnesota:

Here are details of the northeastern Minnesota blizzard warning:

A blizzard warning continues this Friday afternoon in much of North Dakota plus northwestern Minnesota:

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

Most of Minnesota and much of Wisconsin have wind chill warnings or advisories today into Saturday:

Here are wind chill forecasts for some locations:

Saturday morning low temps will be in the teens below zero in the west, with single-digits below zero in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Saturday highs creep slightly above zero in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

Sunday highs could reach double-digits in southwestern Minnesota, with single-digit highs elsewhere:

Winds will be much lighter on Sunday. Snow could spread into western Minnesota Sunday afternoon, then arrive in parts of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin Sunday 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. Saturday and Sunday.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

Strong winds will continue to cause blowing and drifting snow in many areas this Friday and into Saturday morning. We’ll also have dangerously low wind chills. We have an update on the blizzard and winter storm warnings.

Blizzard conditions in many areas Friday into Saturday AM, along with dangerous wind chills

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