Colder air is here, snow is on the way
Thursday will bring the first of two storm systems
Updated 9 a.m.
Chilly air is back Wednesday and sticking around. Blustery northwest winds will make it feel colder. Snow develops Thursday into Thursday night with another system this weekend.
Cold to be accompanied by snow
We have the first ingredient in place for some snowfall — cold air. Wednesday will be chilly with below-normal temperatures.
Highs will range from the 30s south to the teens north, but we should see a fair amount of sunshine except in northeastern Minnesota, which will see more clouds. A northwest breeze at 10 to 20 mph will make it feel colder all day.
These readings are below normal by 10 to 20 degrees for most of Minnesota, making it genuinely chilly for mid-March and the first full day of spring.
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Snow will develop Thursday in western Minnesota and expand east by the evening into the overnight Thursday night, wrapping up early Friday morning. Snow could mix with rain in far southern Minnesota along Interstate 90.
A wide area of snowfall accumulation will affect much of the state with this first round of snow. Heaviest totals will be along and just north of Interstate 94.
This is the official National Weather Service forecast:
Watch for snowfall forecasts to become more refined through the day Wednesday. Most forecast models are hinting at a more narrow heavier band in central Minnesota and potentially, secondarily in far southeast Minnesota.
I think likely snowfall totals will be in the 2 to 3-inch range for most of the Twin Cities area but some northern suburbs could see more like 3 or 4 inches.
A second, larger storm system with much more moisture and bigger snowfall potential develops Saturday night into Sunday, Monday and potentially Tuesday. This could be a snowfall that comes in two rounds.
This could be quite a significant storm so stay tuned.
We’ll likely see snow turn to rain late Sunday for the Twin Cities and southeastern Minnesota. This, combined with some questions on the development of a second wave of snow late Monday into Tuesday, could drastically impact final snowfall totals.
Pictured below are forecast model snowfall totals for the heaviest period of early Sunday into early Monday. There could be additional snowfall Monday and Tuesday and some of this could be cut back by rainfall late Sunday.
The pattern remains colder than normal into next week overall. We likely won’t see temperatures in the 50s, like we saw Tuesday, again until the very end of the month or early April.