More snow Friday; temperatures moderate in a week

Here comes the snow again.

Our next snowmaker moves into western Minnesota early Friday morning. Snow spreads east during the morning hours. Timing on the onset of snowfall varies, but most models bring snow into the Twin Cities near the end of rush hour. A couple models hold off snow in the Twin Cities until 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. Needless to say, snow beginning at 8 a.m. vs. 10 a.m. represents a critical difference for morning rush hour.

Either way, snow continues most of the day Friday, then tapers off in the late evening. Afternoon rush hour looks slick.

Here's NOAA's NAM 3 km model from 6 a.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Friday.

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NOAA NAM 3 km model via tropical tidbits.

Another 2" to 5"

The big picture on snowfall ranges across Minnesota looks like 2" to 5". Most of us may end up in the 3" to 4" range. Either scenario looks plowable.

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Arctic weekend

It's another free Arctic vacation this weekend. One more sub-zero shot rides south Saturday. Temperatures moderate later next week. Highs near 30 by next weekend are still about 7 degrees colder than average, but a noticeable change from this weekend.

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NOAA via Weather Bell.

Last subzero for MSP?

The only guarantees in weather forecasts are sunrise and sunset. I'm hesitant to say our subzero temps early next week will be the last of the season. But I'd say there's a much better than even chance they will be. Milder Pacific air is likely to keep highs in the 30s most days starting around March 10. That's still a few degrees cooler than average, and yes it can (and will) still snow. But it's a significant change from where we have been.

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NOAA GFS temperature output via Meteostar.

Stay tuned.