Snow lingers over southern Minn. Saturday morning; some Sunday sun

Dry easterly winds spared the Twin Cities metro area from this winter storm, but large portions of western and southern Minnesota saw several inches of snow.

The snow will continue this Saturday morning in parts of western Minnesota and much of southern Minnesota.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential snow pattern through Saturday afternoon:

rt0324rad
NOAA NAM simulated radar from Saturday morning through Saturday afternoon, via tropicaltidbits

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of snow.

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Warnings and advisories

The National Weather Service continues winter storm warnings until 1 p.m. in much of Minnesota:

rt0324wrn2
NWS Twin Cities
rt0324wrn4
NWS Grand Forks, ND

Here are details of the winter storm warning across parts of west-central and much of southern Minnesota until 1 p.m., from Willmar through Mankato and down to Albert Lea:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

408 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018

...SNOW CONTINUES FROM WEST CENTRAL ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA

THIS MORNING...

.A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect across most of west

central and south central Minnesota, with a Winter Weather

Advisory in effect west of a line from Motley to St Cloud to

Owatonna.

Total snowfall accumulations in the warning area will range from 5

to 10 inches, with amounts nearing one foot in south central

Minnesota along the Iowa border. A very tight gradient will exist

on the northern and eastern fringes of the winter storm warning,

with amounts tapering off to near nothing just outside of the

warning area.

Snowfall amounts in the Advisory area will range from 2 to 5

inches, with amounts on the higher end of that range primarily in

the southwestern portion of the counties.

MNZ057-067-075-083-084-092-093-241715-

/O.EXT.KMPX.WS.W.0005.000000T0000Z-180324T1800Z/

Kandiyohi-Sibley-Nicollet-Blue Earth-Waseca-Faribault-Freeborn-

Including the cities of Willmar, Gaylord, St Peter, Mankato,

Waseca, Blue Earth, and Albert Lea

408 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018

...WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CDT THIS

AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Heavy snow. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 11 inches

are expected. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are

possible at times.

* WHERE...Portions of central and south central Minnesota.

* WHEN...Until 1 PM CDT this afternoon.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on difficult travel conditions. Be

prepared for significant reductions in visibility at times.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Storm Warning for snow means severe winter weather

conditions will make travel very hazardous or impossible. If you

must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your

vehicle in case of an emergency. The latest road conditions for

Minnesota can be found at 511mn.org and for Wisconsin at

511wi.gov, or by calling 5 1 1 in either state.

And southwestern Minnesota details:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD

409 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018

IAZ003-MNZ071-072-080-081-090-241715-

/O.EXT.KFSD.WS.W.0005.000000T0000Z-180324T1800Z/

Dickinson-Lincoln MN-Lyon MN-Murray-Cottonwood-Jackson-

409 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018

...WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM CDT THIS

AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Heavy snow, mainly through mid morning. Additional snow

accumulations of 3 to 5 inches are expected. Storm total

snowfall from 5 to 9 inches expected, but will vary based on

elevation, with greater amounts along the Buffalo Ridge in

southwest Minnesota.

* WHERE...Portions of northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota.

* WHEN...Until 1 PM CDT this afternoon.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on very difficult travel conditions.

Be prepared for significant reductions in visibility at times.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Storm Warning for snow means severe winter weather

conditions will make travel very hazardous or impossible. 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.

There is a winter weather advisory for northwestern and west-central Minnesota until 11 a.m.:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Grand Forks ND

436 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018

MNZ001>003-027-029>031-040-NDZ007-008-016-027-030-039-049-052>054-

241600-

/O.EXT.KFGF.WW.Y.0013.000000T0000Z-180324T1600Z/

West Polk-Norman-Clay-West Becker-Wilkin-West Otter Tail-

East Otter Tail-Grant-Cavalier-Pembina-Eastern Walsh County-

Grand Forks-Traill-Cass-Ransom-Sargent-Richland-

Western Walsh County-

Including the cities of Crookston, East Grand Forks, Ada,

Twin Valley, Halstad, Moorhead, Detroit Lakes, Breckenridge,

Fergus Falls, Perham, New York Mills, Parkers Prairie, Henning,

Battle Lake, Elbow Lake, Hoffman, Ashby, Herman, Barrett,

Langdon, Cavalier, Walhalla, Drayton, Pembina, Neche, St. Thomas,

Grafton, Park River, Grand Forks, Mayville, Hillsboro, Hatton,

Portland, Fargo, Lisbon, Enderlin, Gwinner, Milnor, Forman,

Rutland, Wahpeton, Edinburg, Adams, and Lankin

436 AM CDT Sat Mar 24 2018

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM CDT THIS

MORNING...

* WHAT...Mixed precipitation. Additional snow accumulations of up

to an inch and ice accumulations of a light glaze are possible.

* WHERE...Portions of northwest and west central Minnesota and

northeast and southeast North Dakota.

* WHEN...Until 11 AM CDT this morning.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on slippery road conditions. Be

prepared for reduced visibilities at times.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of snow, sleet or

freezing rain will cause travel difficulties. Be prepared for

slippery roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while

driving. The latest road conditions for the state you are calling

from can be obtained by calling 5 1 1.

Updates

Snowfall reports will be posted by the NWS on their interactive map.  You can click on a data point to get the time and location of the snowfall measurement.

Updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you can also see weather updates on the MPR news live weather blog.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will have road condition updates.

Some Sunday sun

Most of Minnesota will see some sunshine and patchy clouds on Sunday. More clouds are expected to roll back into parts of western Minnesota Sunday afternoon.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the cloud trends as we go through Sunday:

rt0324sat
NOAA NAM model of low cloudiness coverage on Sunday, via tropicaltidbits

Minnesota highs on Sunday are expected to be mainly in the 30s in the west, with some lower 40s possible in the east.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.