Foggy in many areas; heaviest snow stays north Sunday night into Monday

Our Saturday afternoon high of 38 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 13 degrees warmer than average for this time of year. It was also our warmest official high temp in the Twin Cities since Jan. 8.

It was nice to see a lot of people out and about, and not bracing against arctic winds!

Temperature trends

Sunday highs will range from the upper teens in far northwestern Minnesota to lower 40s in the far southeast. The Twin Cities metro area should reach the upper 30s.

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On Monday, colder air will spread across much of Minnesota:

rt24h

The metro area will probably see a Monday morning high temp in the 20s, with slowly falling temps throughout the day.

Tuesday highs will be chilly:

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Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to reach the lower 20s on Wednesday, followed by teens Thursday and Friday.

Dense fog

A dense fog advisory continues Saturday evening, overnight Saturday night and Sunday morning from the southern part of The Twin Cities metro area and Pierce county, Wisconsin through south-central and southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin:

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NWS Twin Cities

Details of the dense fog advisory:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

941 AM CST Sat Feb 2 2019

MNZ069-070-076>078-083>085-092-093-WIZ024-026-022345-

/O.NEW.KMPX.FG.Y.0002.190202T1800Z-190203T1800Z/

Scott-Dakota-Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue-Blue Earth-Waseca-Steele-

Faribault-Freeborn-Pierce-Pepin-

Including the cities of Shakopee, Hastings, Le Sueur, Faribault,

Red Wing, Mankato, Waseca, Owatonna, Blue Earth, Albert Lea,

River Falls, Prescott, and Durand

941 AM CST Sat Feb 2 2019

...DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST SUNDAY...

The National Weather Service in Twin Cities/Chanhassen has issued

a Dense Fog Advisory, which is in effect until noon CST Sunday.

* VISIBILITY...Dropping below 1 mile in areas of fog.

* IMPACTS...Patchy icy spots, reduced visibilities.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Dense Fog Advisory means visibilities will frequently be

reduced to less than one quarter mile. If driving...slow down...

use your headlights...and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.

You can check the NWS Twin Cities site for updates on the dense fog advisory as we go through Saturday night and early Sunday.

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.

Be aware that the metro area and southeastern Minnesota could see some drizzle and freezing drizzle at times.

The winter weather advisory that's shown in Wisconsin runs from Saturday evening into Sunday morning, and is for freezing drizzle/light freezing rain.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8:30 PM Update

The NWS has expanded the dense fog advisory to cover the entire Twin Cities metro area and much of central Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin this Saturday evening through Sunday morning:

rt22mpx6
NWS Twin Cities

Details of the dense fog advisory that includes the Twin Cities metro area from this Saturday evening through Sunday morning:

 URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

813 PM CST Sat Feb 2 2019

MNZ041>045-048>053-057>063-065>068-073>075-WIZ014-015-023-025-

031015-

/O.EXA.KMPX.FG.Y.0002.000000T0000Z-190203T1800Z/

Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Pope-Stearns-Benton-

Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-

Ramsey-Washington-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Redwood-Brown-

Nicollet-Polk-Barron-St. Croix-Dunn-

Including the cities of Alexandria, Long Prairie, Little Falls,

Princeton, Mora, Glenwood, St Cloud, Foley, Elk River, Cambridge,

Center City, Willmar, Litchfield, Monticello, Minneapolis,

Blaine, St Paul, Stillwater, Olivia, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chaska,

Redwood Falls, New Ulm, St Peter, Osceola, Rice Lake, Hudson,

and Menomonie

813 PM CST Sat Feb 2 2019

...DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST SUNDAY...

The National Weather Service in Twin Cities/Chanhassen has issued

a Dense Fog Advisory, which is in effect until noon CST Sunday.

* VISIBILITY...A quarter mile or less in areas of fog.

* IMPACTS...Significantly reduced visibilities. In addition,

patchy icy spots will be possible where temepratures are below

freezing across central Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Dense Fog Advisory means visibilities will frequently be

reduced to less than one quarter mile. If driving...slow down...

use your headlights...and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wintry mix and snow Sunday evening into Monday

A low pressure system is expected to spread snow into parts of northwestern Minnesota on Sunday. The snow area expands across most of northern Minnesota Sunday evening, with the snow continuing Sunday night into Monday.

Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area could see a wintry mix of rain, light freezing rain, sleet and snow Sunday night, changing over to all snow at some point on Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Sunday through Monday afternoon:

rt22rad3
NOAA NAM simulated radar from Sunday morning through Monday afternoon, 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 or rain.

The heaviest snow Sunday evening into Monday is expected to fall in northwestern Minnesota and parts of north-central and west-central Minnesota.

A winter storm watch runs from 6 p.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday for much of that area, it is for a wintry mix followed by a possible three to six inches of snow plus blowing snow:

rt22gfk6
NWS Grand Forks

The watch begins at noon Sunday in Minnesota counties along the Red River.

You can check the NWS Grand Forks site for updates on the winter storm watch.

Snow depth

If you’re planning to play in the snow on Sunday, you’ll be interested in the latest Minnesota snow depth map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office:

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.