Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Temps set to rebound Friday afternoon; weekend highs in the 30s

Snowstorm raking Iowa, southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois

Northern and central Minnesota are enjoying a lot of sunshine Thursday morning. Much of southern Minnesota is covered with clouds that are rotating around a low-pressure system centered over southeastern Missouri. The Twin Cities metro area will be riding the northern edge of the clouds into the afternoon.

Snowstorm update

The Missouri low-pressure system will track northeastward Thursday afternoon and evening, delivering several inches of snow to much of southern and eastern Iowa plus parts of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday:

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Simulated radar 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Winter storm warnings extend from southeastern Nebraska through northwest Missouri, southern and eastern Iowa and into southern Wisconsin and far northern Illinois:

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Thursday winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories
National Weather Service

Here are winter storm details for Iowa:

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Winter storm details
National Weather Service

Here are winter storm details for Wisconsin:

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Winter storm details
National Weather Service

Forecast snow totals are highest in southeastern Wisconsin:

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Winter storm details
National Weather Service

Our Minnesota weather is very quiet Thursday. Far southeastern Minnesota could see a light snow shower.

You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News network, and on the MPR News live weather blog.

Temps rebound Friday afternoon

Much of Minnesota will have Thursday highs in the teens. Some spots in far northwestern Minnesota will see single-digit highs. Southeastern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin will reach the lower 20s.

Some spots in the Twin Cities metro area could top 20 degrees. The average Feb. 16 Twin Cities high temp is 29 degrees. Low temps early Friday will be below zero in many areas:

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Friday morning forecast lows
National Weather Service

Friday afternoon highs will be well into the 20s in most locations, with some lower 30s in northwestern Minnesota:

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Friday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Winds will ramp up Friday afternoon, with gusts over 30 mph in western and northern Minnesota:

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Friday 3 p.m. forecast wind gusts
National Weather Service

Forecast gusts are in knots, with 27 knots equal to 31.1 mph.

Winds will diminish a bit this weekend, and many areas will have weekend highs in the 30s.

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. Saturday and Sunday.