Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Falling temperatures will allow morning rain showers to turn to snow in the afternoon and evening Thursday. Snow showers will linger into Friday. Winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings are posted across much of Minnesota.

Our latest storm system is bringing a mixed bag of precipitation starting as rain turns to snow through the day Thursday. By mid-afternoon the precipitation will be all snow for most.

Temperatures will fall through the morning and afternoon allowing the changeover in precipitation type. 

The above-freezing temperatures to start and wet surfaces will limit accumulations in the Twin Cities and southeastern Minnesota. 

The graphic below features outputs from two computer models, the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model and the North American Mesoscale model. Each compares snowfall to what’s called net positive snow depth change — the impact on snow depth due to melting and compacting, which may be a more accurate representation of the snowfall you’ll see at the end of the event. 

I think most of the Twin Cities area will see about 1 to 3 inches.

The heaviest snowfall totals will be around Duluth and northeastern Minnesota into Friday. Here’s the National Weather Service official forecast for snowfall, which I think is a bit on the high end for southern Minnesota:

Snow showers will linger on and off into Friday, especially for northeastern Minnesota.

Colder behind the snow for Friday into the weekend

Behind the storm system will come some cold air. Watch for refreeze overnight Thursday into Friday as temperatures drop into the teens and single digits across Minnesota into early Friday.

Highs will only be in the 20s and even 10s in western Minnesota Friday and Saturday.

Those readings are 10 to 20 degrees colder than normal for the dates.

The coldest temperatures will come Saturday night as skies clear out. Parts of western Minnesota could be below zero with the rest of the state falling into the single digits to around 10 degrees for overnight lows.

There are signs of consistent mild air next week. If The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model is to be believed, we could see our first 50-degree reading in the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Sven Sundgaard

Author

Falling temperatures will allow morning rain showers to turn to snow in the afternoon and evening Thursday. Snow showers will linger into Friday. Winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings are posted across much of Minnesota.


Latest storm brings rain turning to snow Thursday into Friday

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