Light snow today; bigger, sloppier system Saturday?

Snow lovers rejoice. Or at least sit up and listen. Two potential snow makers are still on track to change our landscape from brown to white this week.

The biggest meteorological questions surround Saturday's inbound system.

System No. 1

First, we watch as light snowflakes spread from west to east across Minnesota Wednesday. Light snow develops erratically in the Twin Cities Wednesday afternoon. The steadiest snow falls late this evening and overnight.

Here's the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NAM 3 km resolution model's depiction of the light snow progression across Minnesota Wednesday.

Overall snowfall totals from Wednesday night's snow system look light. Southern Minnesota picks up anywhere from a snowy coating to as much as 2 inches.

The system will be a little more productive up north. Here's a look at likely snowfall totals from the Duluth National Weather Service office.

System No. 2: Saturday slop-storm?

There's still a high degree of model spread concerning storm track and precipitation type for Saturday's inbound weather system.

The American models still push the bulk of the snow south across Iowa and southern Minnesota. The Canadian and European models are farther north and bring heavy mixed precipitation into the Twin Cities and much of Minnesota. Temperatures appear likely to hover around the freezing mark Saturday.

That poses problems for precipitation type. A mix of rain, sleet, ice and snow are all possible Saturday. And if precipitation changes over to all snow and stays there, heavy snowfall totals are possible.

Stay tuned.

Snow hole?

So far the Twin Cities has recorded 2 inches of snowfall this season. But much heavier snows have fallen to the north and south.

This interesting pattern reminds me of El Niño winters that can feature two distinct storm tracks. Let's see if that trend continues this winter.