Mild weekend temps; heavy snow for Missouri, Illinois and southern Iowa
We're looking at a lot of bare ground in the Twin Cities metro area. There's a bit of snow on north-facing hills and in shady areas, but we don't see a typical January landscape when we gaze out of our windows.
The season snowfall total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is sitting at 11 inches right now:
We're running 14.8 inches below normal for snowfall at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport to this point in our snow season. Snow-lovers take heart, we're only about half-way through our typical snow season.
There's plenty of snow on the ground in central and northern Minnesota, as depicted on the latest Minnesota snow depth map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office:
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Winter storm to the south
St. Louis has tallied 6.9 inches of snow this snow season and could see an additional 6 to 10 inches of snow from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon, pushing the city's season snowfall total ahead of our Twin Cities season total!
A developing winter storm has prompted the National Weather Service to issue winter storm warnings from Missouri to southwestern Ohio:
Winter weather advisories include portions of Nebraska and Iowa.
Check for forecast updates if you plan to travel into the advisory and warning areas this Friday or Saturday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Friday morning through Saturday evening:
Here are the potential snow totals, from the NAM forecast model:
A closeup on Iowa, from the Des Moines office of the NWS:
And the timing details:
Meanwhile, northeastern Minnesota will see some snow showers and minor snow accumulations this Friday into early Saturday:
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10 a.m. update
Snow accumulations are now expected to be a bit higher along the north shore of Lake Superior from today into early Saturday:
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Temperature trends
Friday afternoon highs are expected to reach the 20s across most of Minnesota, with 30s from the Twin Cities metro area into south-central and southeastern Minnesota.
Our average high this time of year is 23 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area.
Saturday highs will look similar to Friday's:
Highs in the 30s are on tap for Sunday in about the southern half of Minnesota, with 20s north:
Twin Cities metro area highs could hit around 40 on Monday, followed by lower 30s Tuesday. We'll be closer to normal on Wednesday and Thursday, with highs in the mid 20s.
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.