Weekend weather: Mildest temps Sunday; Saturday morning snow chance up north
Minnesota snow depth update
I’ll start with the latest snow depth map, since much of Minnesota had minimal snow cover over the past few weeks until our recent storm.
Here’s the latest Minnesota snow depth map, posted Thursday afternoon by the Minnesota State Climatology Office:
Areas shaded green had snow depths between 4 and 8 inches Thursday morning, with snow depths of 8 to 12 inches in areas shaded light blue. The areas shaded darkest blue in northeastern Minnesota had snow depths between 15 and 18 inches Thursday morning.
Some of our Minnesota snow cover has melted since Thursday morning.
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Weekend rain/snow chance
Portions of northern Minnesota will see periods of snow or a wintry mix Friday afternoon and Friday night into Saturday morning. A few spots in far northern Minnesota could also see a Sunday morning snow shower.
Southern and central Minnesota will have a chance of scattered rain showers late Friday afternoon and Friday night, with another chance of scattered rain showers Sunday afternoon and evening.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 10 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday:
In addition to some snow, areas along the North Shore of Lake Superior and portions of northwestern Wisconsin could see some icing. Here area projected snow and ice totals Friday through Saturday in northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin:
Here are details of the winter weather advisory (center-bottom of graphic) along portions of the North Shore:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Duluth MN 408 AM CDT Fri Mar 29 2024 MNZ020-021-292115- /O.NEW.KDLH.WW.Y.0014.240330T0200Z-240330T1500Z/ Southern Lake-Southern Cook- Including the cities of Two Harbors, Silver Bay, and Grand Marais 408 AM CDT Fri Mar 29 2024 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 AM CDT SATURDAY... * WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of up to three inches and ice accumulations of around one tenth of an inch. * WHERE...Southern Lake and Southern Cook Counties. This includes the Tribal Lands of the Grand Portage Reservation. * WHEN...From 9 PM this evening to 10 AM CDT Saturday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. Road conditions can also be found at 511mn.org for Minnesota or 511wi.gov for Wisconsin.
Here are advisory details for northwestern Wisconsin:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Duluth MN 408 AM CDT Fri Mar 29 2024 WIZ001>003-292115- /O.NEW.KDLH.WW.Y.0014.240330T0200Z-240330T1500Z/ Douglas-Bayfield-Ashland- Including the cities of Superior, Washburn, Bayfield, and Ashland 408 AM CDT Fri Mar 29 2024 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 AM CDT SATURDAY... * WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations of up to one inch and ice accumulations of one tenth to two tenths of an inch. * WHERE...Douglas, Bayfield and Ashland Counties. This includes the Tribal Lands of the Red Cliff Band and the Bad River Reservation. * WHEN...From 9 PM this evening to 10 AM CDT Saturday. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. Road conditions can also be found at 511mn.org for Minnesota or 511wi.gov for Wisconsin.
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 Duluth, Minn. and Grand Forks, N.D.
Weekend temps
The average Twin Cities high temperature is 49 degrees on March 30. Metro area highs are expected to reach the lower 40s this Saturday.
Most of western and far northern Minnesota will see Saturday highs in the 30s, with 40s elsewhere in Minnesota plus western Wisconsin:
Twin Cities metro area highs are likely to reach the upper 40s on Sunday. Many locations will have Sunday highs in the 40s, with 30s lingering in northwestern and west-central Minnesota:
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.