And so it begins. Winter storm watch for Red River Valley

Winter is coming.

The first flakes of the season fly in the air over many the Upper Midwest locales Thursday and Friday. The Red River Valley NWS office has posted a winter storm watch for Thursday and Friday.

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

Twin Valley, Halstad, Moorhead, Hallock, Karlstad, Lancaster,

Roseau, Warroad, Greenbush, Warren, Stephen, Argyle, Newfolden,

Middle River, Grygla, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Falls, Fosston,

Fertile, McIntosh, Erskine, Breckenridge, Cando, Langdon,

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

Fort Totten, Maddock, Leeds, Minnewaukan, Devils Lake, Grafton,

Park River, New Rockford, Lakota, Mcville, Aneta, Tolna,

Grand Forks, Cooperstown, Finley, Hope, Mayville, Hillsboro,

Hatton, Portland, Valley City, Fargo, Lisbon, Enderlin, Gwinner,

Milnor, Forman, Rutland, Wahpeton, Edinburg, Adams, and Lankin

332 PM CDT Tue Oct 24 2017

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH

FRIDAY AFTERNOON...

* WHAT...Blizzard conditions possible. Travel could be very

difficult to impossible. Total snow accumulations of up to 2

inches, with localized amounts up to 4 inches, are possible.

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

Minnesota, northeast North Dakota and southeast North Dakota.

* WHEN...Winds will pick up Thursday morning, but rain will change

over to snow Thursday afternoon and evening. The strong winds

and snow possibilities will continue into Friday morning.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Winds gusting as high as 60 mph could

cause whiteout conditions in blowing snow. Significant

drifting of the snow is also possible.

Forecast model battle

Models still differ on the temperature profile for this system near the Twin Cities. The American models favor the possibility of accumulating snow. The European and Canadian models favor mostly rain. The latest Twin Cities NWS digital snowfall output favors a trace amount of snow in the Twin Cities, with some light accumulation west and north. This solution seems reasonable at this point in the week.

Stay tuned.