Sunday snow; cold and windy Monday

Snow lovers will be smiling Sunday afternoon.

A low pressure system is expected to spread snow across Minnesota Sunday into Sunday evening.

Here's the Saturday evening run of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model, showing simulated radar for Sunday and Sunday evening:

The snow could begin early Sunday morning in northwestern Minnesota, then spread to the east and south.

This model shows accumulating snow holding off until Sunday afternoon in the Twin Cities metro area and southeastern Minnesota.

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.

The highest snow totals, in the two to three inch range, are expected to be over eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

The higher terrain along the north shore of Lake Superior, combined with enhanced moisture due to winds off of the lake, could lead to some three to five inch snow totals in Cook county of northeastern Minnesota.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory from 10 a.m. to midnight on Sunday for that section of the north shore:

Here are details of the advisory:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Duluth MN

312 PM CST Sat Jan 13 2018

...SNOW FOR MINNESOTA NORTH SHORE SUNDAY...

.Snow will spread into the Minnesota Arrowhead Sunday morning

afternoon and linger through the evening. The more northern extent

of Minnesota`s North Shore, along the Lake Superior in Cook

County and in the nearby higher terrain, will get about 3 to 5

inches. Other parts of the Arrowhead and North Shore will only get

about 1 to 3 inches. The snow will be caused by a passing

Canadian Clipper, as well as lake and terrain ehancement.

MNZ021-140915-

/O.NEW.KDLH.WW.Y.0004.180114T1600Z-180115T0600Z/

Southern Cook/North Shore-

Including the city of Grand Marais

312 PM CST Sat Jan 13 2018

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM SUNDAY TO

MIDNIGHT CST SUNDAY NIGHT...

* WHAT...Snow expected. Plan on slippery road conditions. Total

snow accumulations of 3 to 5 inches are expected.

* WHERE...Southern Cook County of the Minnesota North Shore.

* WHEN...From 10 AM Sunday to midnight CST Sunday night.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Be prepared for reduced visibilities at

times.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Weather Advisory for snow means periods of snow will

cause primarily travel difficulties. Be prepared for snow covered

roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving.

The latest road conditions for Minnesota can be obtained by

calling 511 in state, or 1-800-542-0220. For Wisconsin, call

511 in state, or 1-866-511-9472

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

Temperature trends

Sunday will be a few degrees milder (less cold) than Saturday.

Highs are expected to be in the teens over much of Minnesota, with some lower 20s southwest:

Single digit highs are expected in the far north.

A cold front sweeps through Minnesota Sunday night, and temps will fall sharply on Monday.

High temps during the daylight hours of Monday are expected to be below zero in northern and central Minnesota, and just slightly above zero in the far south.

It'll be windy from Monday into early Tuesday, with some very cold wind chills:

Twin Cities metro area high temps will be in the single digits above zero on Tuesday, followed by teens on Wednesday.

The metro area could see highs in the 20s on Thursday, followed by lower 30s Friday and Saturday.

NOAA's Global Forecast System model shows highs in the 20s and 30s from Sunday Jan. 21 through Thursday Jan. 25:

That would give our furnaces a break, and it would help rein in our heating bills!

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.