Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

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It was a gorgeous Sunday, with plenty of sunshine. We had pleasant winter temperatures across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. 

The Sunday high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 33 degrees, which exactly matches the average Twin Cities high temperature for Feb. 26.

Our weather pattern becomes more active overnight Sunday night into Monday.

A low pressure system will spread precipitation into southern, central and eastern Minnesota and much of Wisconsin overnight Sunday night, with precipitation continuing on Monday.

The precipitation will begin as rain in many areas, with freezing rain at locations that have cold enough surface temperatures. Some locations will see a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow overnight.

Periods of rain, freezing rain and snow are expected in Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Monday.  A wintry mix could transition to mainly snow in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin as we go through Monday afternoon.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 9 p.m. Sunday to 9 p.m. Monday:

The actual precipitation may be a bit more extensive than what is shown in the NAM model loop, but the loop does illustrate the general pattern that’s expected.

Here’s the probability for periods of freezing rain overnight Sunday night and into Monday:

Here’s the ice (freezing rain) potential in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

Parts of northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin are likely to see several inches of snow Monday into Monday evening:

Only minor snow accumulations are expected in most of central Minnesota. The Twin Cities metro area could see a rain/snow mix for awhile, with little or no snow accumulation expected.

Winter storm warnings for ice (freezing rain) begin at 3 a.m. Monday and continue until 6 p.m. Monday in several western Wisconsin counties. A winter storm warning for freezing rain plus accumulating snow runs from 2 a.m. Monday to 9 p.m. Monday from Pine County into northwestern Wisconsin:

Winter weather advisories are posted for portions of central Minnesota from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. and for parts of the north and east metro from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday.

Here are details of the winter storm warning that includes west-central Wisconsin:

Here are details of the winter weather advisory that includes Anoka County and Washington County of the Twin Cities metro area:

There appears to be a lower chance of freezing rain in the central and southern parts of the Twin Cities metro area. Check forecast updates overnight and Monday morning.

A winter storm warning for snow, sleet and freezing rain runs from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday in the Duluth area. There’s a winter storm warning for heavy snow Monday along the North Shore:

Here are details of that winter storm warning:

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

There will be some 20s in northeastern Minnesota.

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the mid 30s on Tuesday, then around 30 degrees on Wednesday, followed by highs in the upper 20s Thursday and lower 30s 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

Some areas will have periods of rain Sunday night and Monday, while other areas see rain, freezing rain and snow. We take a look at the Monday weather details.

Periods of rain, ice, snow Monday for Minnesota and western Wisconsin

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