Frigid temperatures this weekend prompt cold weather advisories

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A powerful low-pressure system will continue to spin moisture over the Upper Midwest Friday afternoon into early Saturday. A blizzard warning now stretches across a broad swath of central and southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, plus parts of Wisconsin Friday evening and overnight.

Much of southern and central Minnesota plus west-central and southwestern Wisconsin will have periods of rain Friday afternoon. Some embedded thunderstorms are possible. There will be some snow and possibly a bit of freezing rain in portions of southwestern and central Minnesota.

Areas with afternoon rain will see a transition to snow Friday evening, with heavy snow expected in many areas through Friday night and into very early Saturday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 2 p.m. Friday to 9 a.m. Saturday:

NOAA’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model shows a similar precipitation pattern Friday afternoon into early Saturday:

In the Twin Cities metro area, the transition from rain to all snow is expected to happen by around 8 p.m. Friday. Parts of the northwestern metro may see an earlier changeover to mainly snow.

Here are National Weather Service forecast snow amounts from Friday afternoon into Saturday morning:

The snow won’t begin in many areas until Friday evening

Snow totals of 6 inches or more are expected in the yellow and orange shaded areas in west-central Minnesota and from the Twin Cities metro area into west-central Wisconsin.

The exact timing of the changeover from rain or a rain-snow mix to all snow will determine exactly which areas receive the most snow. There may be a band of enhanced snowfall rates with higher snow totals.

Winds will ramp up this evening and overnight, severely reducing visibilities.

A blizzard warning covers much of central and southern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin Friday evening through the overnight hours of Friday night and into early Saturday:

Here are details of the blizzard warning that begins at 9 p.m. Friday in the Twin Cities metro area and is already in effect in parts of far western Minnesota:

The blizzard warning begins at 11 p.m. Friday in Mankato, Red Wing and Eau Claire. 

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

Southern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin could see scattered thunderstorms late Friday afternoon and Friday evening. Southeastern Minnesota has a slight chance of severe weather:

Slight risk means that scattered severe thunderstorms are possible:

An isolated severe thunderstorm is possible in the darker green shaded area in southern Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin.

There is a much higher risk of severe weather Friday afternoon and evening from eastern Iowa into parts of Missouri and Illinois:

A tornado watch covers much of that area Friday afternoon and into Friday evening:

The NWS Storm Prediction Center’s discussion of the tornado watch described this as a particularly dangerous situation:

The average Twin Cities high temperature is 50 degrees on April 1. Metro area highs will be in the upper 30s this Saturday.

Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have highs in the 30s on Saturday, with some 20s in far western Minnesota:

Sunday highs range from 30s in northwestern Minnesota to 50s in the far southeast:

Most of the Twin Cities metro area will see Sunday highs in the 40s.

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

A blizzard warning now stretches across a broad swath of central and southern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, and parts of Wisconsin Friday evening and overnight. How much snow depends on the timing of the changeover from rain.

Blizzard warning widens to Twin Cities; heavy snow expected Friday night

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