Heaviest snow in northern Minn. Sunday night into Monday; a wintry mix, then light rain for the metro area
The latest computer model info still indicates that the heaviest snow Sunday night and early Monday will be over northeastern Minnesota.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Sunday evening through Monday afternoon:
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 or rain.
How much snow?
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Drizzle/light rain/snow showers move into the Twin Cities metro area Sunday evening and that mix is expected to change to light rain overnight into early Monday. A light coating of snow is possible, especially in the north metro, but that light coating could disappear by early Monday.
The highest snow totals this Sunday evening into Monday morning will be over north-central and northeastern Minnesota:
"Tonight" in the graphic title refers to the overnight hours of Sunday night.
The heavy snow, plus blowing snow and reduced visibilities will make travel difficult in those areas.
Northwestern Minnesota will probably see a combination of snow, sleet and light freezing rain:
Winter storm warnings run from Sunday evening through Monday morning in northeastern Minnesota and parts of north-central Minnesota, plus Douglas county of northwestern Wisconsin:
Details of the portion of the warning that includes Duluth, Hibbing and International Falls:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Duluth MN
252 PM CST Sun Jan 6 2019
...WINTER STORM WILL BRING SNOW TO THE NORTHLAND TONIGHT INTO
MONDAY...
.A winter storm will spread snow through the region from west to
east this evening through early Monday afternoon. This will bring
rapidly accumulating snow and major impacts to the Monday morning
commute.
MNZ010-011-018-019-026-037-WIZ001-070900-
/O.CON.KDLH.WS.W.0001.190107T0200Z-190107T1700Z/
Koochiching-North St. Louis-North Itasca-Central St. Louis-
South Itasca-Carlton and South St. Louis-Douglas-
Including the cities of International Falls, Ely, Bigfork,
Hibbing, Grand Rapids, Duluth, and Superior
252 PM CST Sun Jan 6 2019
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 8 PM THIS EVENING
TO 11 AM CST MONDAY...
* WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 3 to 5
inches, except 5 to 7 inches for the higher terrain of the
North Shore expected. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph.
* WHERE...In Wisconsin, Douglas County. In Minnesota, South
Itasca, Koochiching, North St. Louis, North Itasca, Central
St. Louis and Carlton and South St. Louis Counties.
* WHEN...From 8 PM this evening to 11 AM CST Monday.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The
hazardous conditions could impact the morning commute.
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 511 in
either state.
Winter weather advisories run from Sunday evening into early Monday in northwestern and west-central Minnesota:
As of Sunday evening, there weren't any advisories for the 7-county Twin Cities metro area, but counties just north and northeast of the metro had winter weather advisories:
Here are details of the winter weather advisory that includes Sherburne, Isanti and Chisago counties from 9 p.m. Sunday to 9 a.m. Monday:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
153 PM CST Sun Jan 6 2019
...A PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN, MIXED WITH SNOW THIS
EVENING, THEN CHANGING TO A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW LATE...
.A Winter Weather Advisory has been expanded further to the west
and south for later this evening, through Monday morning. The
areas now in effect include cities north of a line from Morris,
St. Cloud, and Cambridge in Minnesota, and north of Taylor Falls,
Rice Lake and Ladysmith in Wisconsin.
Precipitation will develop this evening in the advisory area. A
period of freezing rain, sleet and snow, will change to rain,
sleet or snow overnight, before ending Monday morning.
Due to the warmer conditions aloft, the precipitation may become
more freezing rain, or rain vs snow overnight, especially in west
central Minnesota where the nose of the warmest air exists. The
area where most of the snow will fall will be in west central
Wisconsin, especially north of east of Ladysmith. Locally two to
four inches will fall in this area. Further to the west, snowfall
amounts will be less than two inches. Due to the freezing rain
possibilities, up to a tenth of an inch of ice may occur before
temperatures warm above the freezing mark. Travel will become
hazardous across these advisory area, especially on untreated
roads.
MNZ041>043-047>053-WIZ014-015-027-070400-
/O.EXA.KMPX.WW.Y.0001.190107T0300Z-190107T1500Z/
Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Stevens-Pope-Stearns-Benton-Sherburne-
Isanti-Chisago-Polk-Barron-Chippewa-
Including the cities of Alexandria, Long Prairie, Little Falls,
Morris, Glenwood, St Cloud, Foley, Elk River, Cambridge,
Center City, Osceola, Rice Lake, and Chippewa Falls
153 PM CST Sun Jan 6 2019
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO
9 AM CST MONDAY...
* WHAT...Mixed precipitation expected. Total snow accumulations
of up to one inch and ice accumulations of a light glaze
expected. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph.
* WHERE...Portions of northwest and west central Wisconsin and
central, east central and west central Minnesota.
* WHEN...From 9 PM this evening to 9 AM CST Monday.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The
hazardous conditions could impact the morning commute.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of snow, sleet or
freezing rain will cause travel difficulties. Expect slippery
roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving.
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.
As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you’ll also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.
You can check the latest forecasts, watches and warnings from the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth and Grand Forks, N.D.
Updated road conditions will be posted by the Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments.
You can check snow accumulations for Minnesota and western Wisconsin as they are posted by the NWS. Hover over a location on the NWS snow map to see the snow total and the time of observation.
Temperature trends
Highs Monday are expected to be mainly in the 30s, with some lower 40s possible in the south:
Cold air rushes in Monday night and Tuesday, with highs in the northwest only reaching the teens:
We could see an early Tuesday morning 30 degree reading in the Twin Cities metro area, with temps falling through the 20s during the day.
Twin Cities high temps are projected to be around 20 on Wednesday, followed by lower 20s on Thursday, and upper 20s on Friday.
Our average Twin Cities metro area high temp is 23 degrees this time of year.