Snowstorm update; extremely cold temps and wind chills this week

Here's a Sunday morning snowstorm update.

Snow will move into western Minnesota later this Sunday morning, then spread across eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin during the afternoon and early evening hours. Snow continues tonight into early Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential snow pattern from Sunday morning 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.

Heavy snow swath

The greatest snow accumulations (generally 6 to 9 inches) are expected from west-central Minnesota through the Twin Cities metro area into southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin.

Here’s the National Weather Service snow forecast from Sunday through Monday:

In the Twin Cities metro area, the accumulating snow is expected to be mainly from mid-afternoon today through the overnight hours tonight.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for most of central and southern Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin from Sunday afternoon through the overnight hours of Sunday night into Monday morning. It’s for heavy snow and blowing snow:

The winter storm warning begins at noon today in west-central Minnesota.

The winter storm warning for the Twin Cities metro area runs from 3 p.m. today until noon on Monday:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

403 AM CST Sun Jan 27 2019

...HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY

MONDAY...

...DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING...

Accumulating snow will occur across all of central and southern

Minnesota into western Wisconsin Sunday afternoon through early

Monday morning. The greatest snow accumulations will stretch from

west central Minnesota through the Twin Cities metro to around the

Eau Claire area, with lesser amounts towards northern Minnesota,

southwestern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. This system is

expected to cause significant travel impacts, especially Sunday

night through the Monday morning commute.

Winter Storm Warnings continue for all of central and southern

Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with the exception of a small

portion of southwestern Minnesota south of the Minnesota River.

In these areas, a Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect.

Snowfall amounts in the warning area can be expected to range

from 6 to 8 inches. Snowfall amounts in the advisory area can be

expected to range from 3 to 6 inches.

Dangerous wind chills of 60 below zero to 35 below zero are

expected Tuesday morning through Thursday morning in western and

central Minnesota. Wind chills of 35 below zero and lower are

expected Tuesday afternoon through Thursday morning in east

central MN and west central Minnesota.

MNZ053-059>063-068>070-271815-

/O.NEW.KMPX.WC.A.0001.190129T2100Z-190131T1500Z/

/O.EXT.KMPX.WS.W.0002.190127T2100Z-190128T1800Z/

Chisago-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington-Carver-Scott-

Dakota-

Including the cities of Center City, Monticello, Minneapolis,

Blaine, St Paul, Stillwater, Chaska, Shakopee, and Hastings

403 AM CST Sun Jan 27 2019

...WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO

NOON CST MONDAY...

...WIND CHILL WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH

THURSDAY MORNING...

* WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Dangerously cold wind chills

possible. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 8 inches expected.

Wind chills as low as 55 below zero to 35 below zero likely.

* WHERE...Portions of central and east central Minnesota.

* WHEN...For the Winter Storm Warning, from 3 PM this afternoon

to noon CST Monday. For the Wind Chill Watch, from Tuesday

afternoon through Thursday morning.

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

blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The

hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening

commute. The dangerously cold wind chills could cause

frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes.

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.

A Wind Chill Watch means there is the potential for a combination

of very cold air and the wind to create dangerously low wind

chill values. Monitor the latest forecasts and warnings for

updates on this situation.

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.

The wind chill watch begins on Tuesday.

You can check the latest forecasts, warnings and advisories from the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Grand Forks, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., and La Crosse, Wis .

Temperatures plummet this week

Sunday highs range from the single digits below zero in parts of northern Minnesota to the teens and low 20s southwest:

The Twin Cities metro area should top out around 10 degrees on Monday, then the extremely cold air moves in. The metro area will see high temps in the single digits below zero on Tuesday. Our high on Wednesday is expected to be around -12, after a Wednesday morning low of about -24. The low Thursday morning could also be about -24, followed by an afternoon high around -4. Metro temps finally rise into the positive numbers on Friday, and we could reach upper 20s next Saturday. That’ll feel nice after several days of arctic cold!

Wind chills will be in the -40 to -50 range in many areas from Tuesday morning into early Thursday:

This blog will be updated 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.