Storm will pack heavy snow and strong winds Sunday into Monday
Winter storm watch begins at 7 a.m. Sunday
I’ll take a quick look at snow totals from Thursday into Friday morning before talking about the winter storm that will hit us this weekend.
Snow totals Thursday into early Friday were generally between 2.5 inches and 4 inches for most of the Twin Cities metro area:
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport received 2.9 inches of snow through 7 a.m. Friday.
The far northern edge of the metro area saw totals of 5.5 inches to as high as 7.5 inches. A narrow stripe of 6 to 8 inches of snow was reported from south of St. Cloud eastward through southern Isanti County and far southern Chisago County:
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Weekend snowstorm
Our Saturday weather will be fairly quiet. A strong low-pressure system will spread moisture our way Saturday night through Sunday and into Monday.
Much of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin will see mainly snow from late Saturday night through Sunday, then there could be rain or a rain snow mix in portions of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin later Sunday night into Monday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 9 p.m. Saturday to 7 p.m. Sunday:
Here are potential snow totals through 7 p.m. Sunday:
NOAA’s 12-km resolution model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 7 p.m. Sunday through 7 p.m. Monday:
Notice the rain (green) depicted in portions of the Twin Cities metro area plus southeastern Minnesota for part of this time period.
Snow amounts are more likely to be 6 inches or more during the Sunday night through Monday time frame in areas to the west, where they don’t see rain or a rain/snow mix:
Here’s the National Weather Service snow forecast from Saturday night through 1 a.m. Monday:
The snow forecast map above does not include snow that will fall in many areas Monday and Monday night. That will be included in later NWS forecasts.
Winter storm watch
A winter storm watch begins at 7 a.m. Sunday for much of Minnesota plus northwestern Wisconsin:
Here’s a closer look at areas included in the winter storm watch:
The winter storm watch runs from 7 a.m. Sunday to 10 a.m. Monday in many locations, including the Twin Cities metro area. The winter storm watch runs from 7 a.m. Sunday to 7 a.m. Tuesday in portions of western Minnesota.
Here are details of the Twin Cities portion of the watch:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 1006 AM CDT Fri Mar 22 2024 MNZ051>053-059>063-066-068>070-222315- /O.EXP.KMPX.WW.Y.0008.000000T0000Z-240322T1500Z/ /O.CON.KMPX.WS.A.0002.240324T1200Z-240325T1500Z/ Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington- McLeod-Carver-Scott-Dakota- Including the cities of Elk River, Cambridge, Center City, Monticello, Minneapolis, Blaine, St Paul, Stillwater, Hutchinson, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Shakopee, and Hastings 1006 AM CDT Fri Mar 22 2024 ...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY MORNING... ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL EXPIRE AT 10 AM CDT THIS MORNING... * WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 10 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph. * WHERE...Portions of central and east central Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area. * WHEN...From Sunday morning through Monday morning. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. High snowfall rates and blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.
Here are western Minnesota watch details:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 1006 AM CDT Fri Mar 22 2024 MNZ041>045-047>050-055-057-058-222315- /O.EXP.KMPX.WW.Y.0008.000000T0000Z-240322T1500Z/ /O.CON.KMPX.WS.A.0002.240324T1200Z-240326T1200Z/ Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Stevens-Pope-Stearns- Benton-Swift-Kandiyohi-Meeker- Including the cities of Alexandria, Long Prairie, Little Falls, Princeton, Mora, Morris, Glenwood, St Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Benson, Willmar, and Litchfield 1006 AM CDT Fri Mar 22 2024 ...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING... ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL EXPIRE AT 10 AM CDT THIS MORNING... * WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 14 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph. * WHERE...Portions of central and west central Minnesota. * WHEN...From Sunday morning through Tuesday morning. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. High snowfall rates and blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network.
Updated forecast information will be posted by the National Weather Service offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D. and Grand Forks, N.D.
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. We will have extra weather updates this weekend.