Evening freezing drizzle/rain south; winter storm warning northern MN into Tuesday
Our Monday evening will feature areas of freezing drizzle and light freezing rain over southern Minnesota, the Twin Cities metro area, and parts of western Wisconsin. That is the reason for our winter weather advisory until midnight. Some roads, driveways and sidewalks will become icy. We could also see a few wet snowflakes.
A winter weather advisory continues until 6 a.m. Tuesday for central Minnesota, where another 2 to 4 inches of snow and patchy light freezing rain are possible:
Winter storm warning northern Minnesota
The National Weather Service continues the winter storm warning for northwestern Minnesota until noon Tuesday:
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Many spots in northwestern Minnesota have already seen several inches of snow today.
An additional 4 to 7 inches of snow are possible in some areas, and there will also be reduced visibilities in blowing and drifting snow:
Here are details of the winter storm warning in northwestern Minnesota, from the Grand Forks, ND office of the NWS:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
318 PM CST MON JAN 2 2017
MNZ002-003-015>017-022>024-027>029-NDZ038-039-049-052-053-031800-
/O.CON.KFGF.WS.W.0001.000000T0000Z-170103T1800Z/
NORMAN-CLAY-EAST POLK-NORTH CLEARWATER-SOUTH BELTRAMI-MAHNOMEN-
SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-WEST BECKER-EAST BECKER-WILKIN-BARNES-
CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT-RICHLAND-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ADA...TWIN VALLEY...HALSTAD...
MOORHEAD...FOSSTON...FERTILE...MCINTOSH...ERSKINE...BAGLEY...
CLEARBROOK...BEMIDJI...MAHNOMEN...NAYTAHWAUSH...WAUBUN...ALIDA...
EBRO...LAKE ITASCA...LONG LOST LAKE...LOWER RICE LAKE...
ROY LAKE...UPPER RICE LAKE...PARK RAPIDS...DETROIT LAKES...
WOLF LAKE...BRECKENRIDGE...VALLEY CITY...FARGO...LISBON...
ENDERLIN...GWINNER...MILNOR...FORMAN...RUTLAND...WAHPETON
318 PM CST MON JAN 2 2017
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST
TUESDAY...
* TIMING...EXPECT SNOW TO RETURN THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE
OVERNIGHT...DIMINISHING BY NOON TUESDAY.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 7
INCHES ARE EXPECTED.
* WINDS / VISIBILITIES...WINDS GUSTING AS HIGH AS 35 MPH WILL
CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...ESPECIALLY IN OPEN
AREAS...RESULTING IN POOR VISIBILITY.
* WIND CHILLS...TEMPERATURES WILL DECREASE THROUGHOUT THE DAY ON
TUESDAY WITH WIND CHILL VALUES OF 20 TO 30 BELOW BY TUESDAY
AFTERNOON.
* IMPACTS...PLAN ON DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS...INCLUDING
DURING THE EVENING COMMUTE AND POSSIBLY THE TUESDAY MORNING
COMMUTE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA
FLASHLIGHT...FOOD AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN
EMERGENCY. THE LATEST ROAD CONDITIONS FOR THE STATE YOU ARE
CALLING FROM CAN BE OBTAINED BY CALLING 5 1 1.
A winter storm warning continues until 6 p.m. Tuesday in much of north-central and northeastern Minnesota, where snow totals of 8-12 inches are possible:
South of the winter storm warning area, there is a winter weather advisory until 6 a.m.Tuesday that includes Duluth and Brainerd. Those areas could see 3 to 6 inches of snow:
Here are details of the winter storm warning, from the Duluth office of the NWS:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
300 PM CST MON JAN 2 2017
...WINTER STORM WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION THROUGH
EARLY TUESDAY...
.THE FIRST WINTER STORM OF THE NEW YEAR BEGAN EARLY TODAY WITH
ITS FIRST ROUND OF LIGHT SNOW ACROSS THE NORTHLAND...BRINGING
ABOUT 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW TO MANY AREAS. ANOTHER...MORE
POTENT...ROUND OF SNOW WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHLAND FROM THE WEST
AND SOUTH THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL WILL
BE ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA INTO THE BORDERLAND...WITH
LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ALSO POSSIBLE ALONG THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF
THE NORTH SHORE. THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF TUESDAY...GENERALLY FROM
WEST TO EAST...WITH SNOW SHOWERS LINGERING ACROSS THE ARROWHEAD
INTO TUESDAY AFTERNOON.
BITTERLY COLD ARCTIC AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHLAND AMIDST GUSTY
NORTHWEST WINDS TUESDAY. THERE COULD BE BLOWING SNOW AND LOW
VISIBILITY IN THE MORE OPEN AREAS WITH THE GUSTY WINDS TUESDAY.
THE ARCTIC AIR WILL BRING A PROLONGED PERIOD OF SUBZERO TO NEAR
SUBZERO WEATHER FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK. THE SOUTH SHORE
IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN WILL GET PERIODS OF LIGHT LAKE EFFECT SNOW
SHOWERS THROUGH THURSDAY.
MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-030700-
/O.CON.KDLH.WS.W.0001.000000T0000Z-170104T0000Z/
KOOCHICHING-NORTH ST. LOUIS-NORTHERN COOK/NORTHERN LAKE-
NORTH ITASCA-CENTRAL ST. LOUIS-SOUTHERN LAKE/NORTH SHORE-
SOUTHERN COOK/NORTH SHORE-NORTH CASS-SOUTH ITASCA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...INTERNATIONAL FALLS...ELY...ISABELLA...
BIGFORK...HIBBING...TWO HARBORS...SILVER BAY...GRAND MARAIS...
WALKER...GRAND RAPIDS
300 PM CST MON JAN 2 2017
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST
TUESDAY...
* LOCATIONS...MUCH OF NORTH-CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST MINNESOTA...
INCLUDING THE BORDERLAND...IRON RANGE...ARROWHEAD...AND NORTH
SHORE. THE HEAVIEST SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE ACROSS THE BORDERLAND
AND ALONG THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE NORTH SHORE.
* TIMING...LIGHT SNOW BECOMING MODERATE TO HEAVY THIS EVENING
THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY. SNOW WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH TUESDAY
MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...TOTAL OF 6 TO 12 INCHES...WITH THE HEAVIEST
AMOUNTS NEAR THE BORDERLAND AND NORTHERN HALF OF THE NORTH
SHORE. THERE WERE REPORTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES AS OF EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON.
* WINDS...NORTHEAST 5 TO 15 MPH...WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH NEAR
THE IMMEDIATE NORTH SHORE...SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST TUESDAY
MORNING.
* VISIBILITIES...AS LOW AS A QUARTER MILE AT TIMES OVERNIGHT.
* IMPACTS...THE HEAVY SNOW WILL MAKE MANY ROADS IMPASSABLE AND
MAY PRODUCE POWER OUTAGES DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THE SNOW ON
TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SIGNIFICANT SNOW
ACCUMULATION IS ANTICIPATED...AND THAT SNOWFALL RATES OF ONE INCH
PER HOUR OR GREATER ARE POSSIBLE. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...EXERCISE
CAUTION AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION. TELL
SOMEONE YOUR TRAVEL ROUTE AND EXPECTED ARRIVAL TIME. HAVE A
WORKING CELL PHONE IN CASE YOU BECOME STRANDED. KEEP A WINTER
SURVIVAL KIT IN YOUR VEHICLE...INCLUDING A FLASHLIGHT...FOOD AND
WATER. IF YOU CHOOSE TO TRAVEL...BE AWARE THAT YOU MAY BECOME
STRANDED AND THAT IT MAY TAKE MANY HOURS FOR HELP TO ARRIVE.
Updated weather information is posted on the MPR news live weather blog.
You can also check with the Duluth office , Grand Forks, ND office, Twin Cities office and La Crosse, WI office of the National Weather Service for weather updates. The NWS sites have clickable maps for the forecast at your specific location.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation will have current road conditions.
Sharply colder
Winds shift to the northwest on Tuesday, and we'll see falling temps through the day.
In the Twin Cities metro area, we could have a high temperature around 30 degrees at 1 in the morning, then temps dropping to the lower 20s by 7 or 8 a.m., and through the teens in the afternoon!
Highs Wednesday will be in the single digits:
Yes, those are single digits below zero for highs in parts of northern Minnesota on Wednesday.
It looks like cold temps will linger through Saturday, then we'll see a rebound on Sunday.