Periods of snow or a rain/snow mix Saturday; gusty winds

Much of northwestern Minnesota and parts of north-central Minnesota had snow overnight. Periods of snow continue into this morning in those areas, with patches of snow or a rain/snow mix elsewhere in Minnesota.

A low pressure system will combine with an upper level disturbance to spread steadier snow across much of Minnesota and into western Wisconsin today. It may be mixed with light rain or drizzle at times in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. this Saturday:

NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid-Refresh model shows a similar pattern, with some breaks in the precipitation:

Snow accumulations today are expected to be one inch or less across much of Minnesota and in portions of western Wisconsin. Far southern Minnesota could see a coating to one-half inch of snow.

Advisories

A winter weather advisory continues until noon today from Polk County of northwestern Minnesota up to Kittson, Roseau and Lake of the Woods County. A winter weather advisory continues until 3 p.m. today in Wilkin, Clay and Norman County:

Here are advisory details for the far northwest:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 555 AM CST Sat Dec 9 2023 MNZ001-005-008-013>015-091800- /O.CON.KFGF.WW.Y.0030.000000T0000Z-231209T1800Z/ West Polk-Roseau-East Marshall-Pennington-Red Lake-East Polk- Including the cities of Crookston, East Grand Forks, Casperson, Fox, Hayes Lake State Park, Malung, Pencer, Roseau, Salol, Newfolden, Middle River, Espelie, Gatzke, Grygla, Rosewood, Dakota Junction, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Falls, Fosston, Fertile, McIntosh, and Erskine 555 AM CST Sat Dec 9 2023 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TODAY... * WHAT...Snow and blowing snow. Additional snow accumulations of 1 inch or less. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph, causing visibilities from 1/2 mile to 1 mile. Localized visibilities below a quarter mile are expected within the central Red River Valley. * WHERE...Portions of northwest Minnesota and southeast North Dakota. * WHEN...Until noon CST today. * IMPACTS...Travel will be difficult. Blowing snow will reduce the visibility, mainly in open country within the Red River Valley. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions for North Dakota can be found at travel.dot.nd.gov and for Minnesota at 511mn.org, or by calling 5 1 1 in either state.

Here are advisory details for Wilkin County and Clay County:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 555 AM CST Sat Dec 9 2023 MNZ003-029-NDZ053-092100- /O.CON.KFGF.WW.Y.0030.000000T0000Z-231209T2100Z/ Clay-Wilkin-Richland- Including the cities of Moorhead, Breckenridge, Lawndale, and Wahpeton 555 AM CST Sat Dec 9 2023 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Snow and blowing snow. Additional snow accumulations of 1 inch or less. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph, causing visibilities from 1/2 mile to 1 mile. * WHERE...In Minnesota, Clay and Wilkin Counties. In North Dakota, Richland County. * WHEN...Until 3 PM CST this afternoon. * IMPACTS...Travel will be difficult. Blowing snow will reduce the visibility, mainly in open country within the Red River Valley. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions for North Dakota can be found at travel.dot.nd.gov and for Minnesota at 511mn.org, or by calling 5 1 1 in either state.

A wind advisory continues until 6 p.m. this Saturday in southwestern Minnesota:

Here are details of the wind advisory:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 328 AM CST Sat Dec 9 2023 MNZ054-064-073-074-082-091-091730- /O.CON.KMPX.WI.Y.0007.231209T1500Z-231210T0000Z/ Lac Qui Parle-Yellow Medicine-Redwood-Brown-Watonwan-Martin- Including the cities of New Ulm, Granite Falls, Fairmont, St James, Madison, and Redwood Falls 328 AM CST Sat Dec 9 2023 ...WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Northwest winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected. * WHERE...Brown, Martin, Watonwan, Redwood, Lac Qui Parle, and Yellow Medicine Counties. * WHEN...From 9 AM this morning to 6 PM CST this evening. * IMPACTS...Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.

Wind gusts of 30 to 35 mph are possible in eastern Minnesota Saturday afternoon.

Saturday temperatures

Saturday high temperatures occurred before 1 a.m. across much of Minnesota. The Twin Cities high was 40 degrees, with temps expected to remain in the 30s for much of the day. Western Minnesota will dip into the 20s.

Here are forecast temps at 3 p.m. Saturday:

Wind chill readings will dip into the single-digits in northwestern Minnesota this afternoon, with wind chills in the teens and lower 20s to the south and east:

Winds will ease up on Sunday.

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. 

Updated forecast info will be posted by the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth and La Crosse, Sioux Falls and Grand Forks.

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. each Saturday and Sunday