Heavy snow in parts of southern Minn. today, less snow for the metro area

Here's the latest on the southern Minnesota heavy snow as we go through Friday and Friday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential snow pattern Friday through Friday night:

rt118rad
NOAA NAM simulated radar from Friday morning through Friday evening, 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.

The heaviest snow is expected over far southern Minnesota:

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rt118adv
NWS Twin Cities

Southern parts of Carver, Scott and Dakota county could see between one and two inches of snow this afternoon/evening, with just a dusting of snow in the north metro.  At this point it looks like less than one inch for the downtown areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and possibly just a light coating of snow. Check forecast updates.

Here are the NWS winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories:

rt118mpxadv2
NWS Twin Cities

Details of the south-central Minnesota portion of the winter storm warning:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

436 AM CST Fri Jan 18 2019

...SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW WILL IMPACT TRAVEL TODAY ACROSS

SOUTHERN MINNESOTA...

.A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for Yellow Medicine,

Redwood, Brown, Watonwan, Martin, Blue Earth, Faribault, and

Freeborn Counties from 6 am through 10 pm. A Winter Weather

Advisory is in effect north of the warning area up to a line from

Madison, to Olivia, and the city of Faribault.

Total snowfall amounts of 5 to 8 inches are likely in the warning

area, with 2 or 5 inches in the advisory area. There will be a

sharp gradient near the northern edge of the snow with little or

nothing expected north of I-94.

Snow will begin to develop in west central and southwest

Minnesota between 6 and 9 am. This area of snow will spread

across southern Minnesota, especially south of the Minnesota

River Valley through the afternoon, before ending this evening.

Locally heavy snowfall is possible this afternoon along the Iowa

border. The evening commute is expected to be impacted from areas

around Redwood Falls, to Mankato, and Owatonna Minnesota. Further

to the north, uncertainties on when snow will begin or even

develop, especially further north into central, and east central

Minnesota, so travel will likely not be impacted.

MNZ064-073-074-082-083-091>093-181845-

/O.CON.KMPX.WS.W.0001.190118T1200Z-190119T0400Z/

Yellow Medicine-Redwood-Brown-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Martin-

Faribault-Freeborn-

Including the cities of Granite Falls, Redwood Falls, New Ulm,

St James, Mankato, Fairmont, Blue Earth, and Albert Lea

436 AM CST Fri Jan 18 2019

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CST THIS

EVENING...

* WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 4 to 8

inches expected.

* WHERE...Yellow Medicine, Redwood, Brown, Watonwan, Martin, Blue

Earth, Faribault, and Freeborn Counties.

* WHEN...Until 10 PM CST this evening.

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

blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The

hazardous conditions could impact the morning and evening

commute.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Storm Warning for snow means severe winter weather

conditions will make travel very hazardous. If you travel, keep

a charged cell phone, 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.

Details of the winter weather advisory just to the south of the Twin Cities metro area, from the Twin Cities office of the NWS:

MNZ067-075>077-084-085-181845-

/O.CON.KMPX.WW.Y.0002.190118T1200Z-190119T0400Z/

Sibley-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice-Waseca-Steele-

Including the cities of Gaylord, St Peter, Le Sueur, Faribault,

Waseca, and Owatonna

436 AM CST Fri Jan 18 2019

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CST THIS

EVENING...

* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 2 to 4

inches expected.

* WHERE...Sibley, Nicollet, Le Sueur, Rice, Waseca and Steele

Counties.

* WHEN...From 6 AM to 10 PM CST.

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

hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening

commute.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Weather Advisory for snow means periods of snow will

cause primarily travel difficulties. Expect snow covered 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.

An updated Updraft blog will be posted around mid-morning.

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.