Winter storm set to rake Minnesota Tuesday into Wednesday

The season’s first winter storm will affect northern Minnesota the most but we’ll all see some snow by Tuesday night. Cold air moves in behind the system and sticks around. 

Rain, snow and cold move in 

Snow showers will continue to expand east across central and northern portions of Minnesota. The snow will pick up in intensity through the afternoon hours Tuesday and into the evening and overnight.

Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities will see scattered rain showers turn to snow during the evening hours (between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. in the Twin Cities). The snow tapers off early Wednesday morning. 

A winter storm warning is posted for most of central and northeastern Minnesota Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Twin Cities is now included:

Snowfall will be heaviest in central Minnesota and up the North Shore. More than 6 inches is possible in those areas.

Farther south we’ll still see a coating to as much as a couple of inches. The Twin Cities metro will be sandwiched between the higher and lower end amounts with a wide range from northern to southern suburbs.

Winds will also increase later Tuesday in western Minnesota and statewide Tuesday night into Wednesday. Winds will be 15 to 30 mph from the northwest with higher gusts of 40 to 50 mph or more in western and far southern Minnesota. 

Afternoon highs Tuesday will still be mild in southern Minnesota but colder with with falling temperatures north.

The system will be followed by some bitter cold. Highs Wednesday into the weekend and next week will be subfreezing statewide. The weather will be quiet on Thursday and Friday. 

We’re also watching another potential storm system for the weekend that could bring more snow to the state depending on where the cold air sets up. The system may be just to our south if we remain on the coldest side of things.