Winds roar; snow heavy in western, northern MN; wintry mix in metro

A strong low-pressure system is generating window-rattling winds as it spins snow, sleet and rain across Minnesota and western Wisconsin Thursday. A few thunderstorms and some areas of thundersnow have also been reported.

A wind gust of 57 knots (65.6 mph) was measured at Holman Field airport in St. Paul around 9 a.m.:

Thankfully, it was just a gust, but sustained winds of 28-35 mph will be common in the metro area Thursday with gusts of 45 to 55 mph at times.

Stronger sustained winds and gusts are expected in much of western Minnesota.

Many roads are a mess, and some are closed:

Some power outages have been reported:

The big picture

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern today through Friday:

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 highest snow amounts Thursday into Thursday evening will be in western Minnesota into parts of northern Minnesota. Winds will be howling, as the center of the low-pressure system moves from Iowa into southern Minnesota.

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.

Warnings and snow potential

Blizzard warnings continue for much of western Minnesota and central Minnesota until 10 a.m. Friday:

Here are the warning details:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

318 AM CDT Thu Apr 11 2019

...MAJOR WINTER STORM CONTINUES INTO FRIDAY...

.A Blizzard Warning remains in effect west of a line from Redwood

Falls to Saint Cloud. A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect

north of a line from Fairmont to Zumbrota to Eau Claire. A Winter

Weather Advisory remains in effect for portions of south central

Minnesota.

The next band of heavy snow will lift north across central

Minnesota and northern Wisconsin early this morning. Snowfall

rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour will be possible with this band.

Warmer air aloft will turn the snow to sleet Thursday morning

along and south of a line from Redwood Falls to Saint Cloud to

Mora. The sleet could turn to rain by afternoon across southern

and eastern Minnesota into western Wisconsin, while heavy snow

continues across western Minnesota.

Storm total snowfall amounts of more than 20 inches are likely

across western Minnesota where the heaviest snowfall is expected.

Amounts of 8 to 16 inches are expected in areas under the Winter

Storm Warning, with amounts decreasing from west to east across

Minnesota into Wisconsin. Additional accumulations of 1 to

4 inches are possible in areas under the Winter Weather Advisory.

Winds will increase tonight with gusts of 45 to 55 mph today.

This will produce areas of blowing snow over much of central and

southern Minnesota into western Wisconsin. Blizzard conditions are

likely across west central Minnesota, but could develop for a

brief time this morning over the rest of central and eastern

Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro, before the transition

to sleet occurs. Travel will likely become impossible across

western Minnesota Thursday, and will be extremely difficult

elsewhere this morning.

MNZ041-047>049-054>058-064-065-073-111630-

/O.CON.KMPX.BZ.W.0004.000000T0000Z-190412T1500Z/

Douglas-Stevens-Pope-Stearns-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa-

Kandiyohi-Meeker-Yellow Medicine-Renville-Redwood-

Including the cities of Alexandria, Morris, Glenwood, St Cloud,

Madison, Benson, Montevideo, Willmar, Litchfield, Granite Falls,

Olivia, and Redwood Falls

318 AM CDT Thu Apr 11 2019

...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CDT FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Blizzard conditions. Additional snow accumulations of

12 to 20 inches. Winds gusting as high as 55 mph.

* WHERE...Portions of central, southwest and west central

Minnesota.

* WHEN...Until 10 AM CDT Friday.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Travel could be very difficult to

impossible. Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce

visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning

or evening commute. Strong winds could cause extensive damage

to trees and power lines.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are

expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds

and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout

conditions, making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel. If

you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. If you get

stranded, stay with your vehicle.

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

Ice storm warnings continue until 7 a.m. Friday in Rock, Nobles and Jackson counties of southwestern Minnesota.

Winter storm warnings continue for the Twin Cities metro area and much of south-central and northern Minnesota plus western Wisconsin until 10 a.m. Friday. Details of the winter storm warning:

318 AM CDT Thu Apr 11 2019

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM CDT

FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Heavy mixed precipitation. Additional snow accumulations

of 5 to 10 inches and ice accumulations of around one tenth of

an inch. Winds gusting as high as 55 mph.

* WHERE...Portions of northwest and west central Wisconsin and

central, east central and south central Minnesota.

* WHEN...Until 10 AM CDT Friday.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Travel could be very difficult to

impossible. Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce

visibility. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning

or evening commute. Strong winds could cause extensive damage

to trees and power lines.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow, sleet

and ice will make travel very hazardous or impossible.

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.

Here's the National Weather Service depiction of additional snow from this storm:

Additional accumulations of snow (and probably some sleet) could range from around 2 inches on the southeast side of the Twin Cities metro area to 3 or 4 inches on the far northwest side of the metro area this Thursday and Thursday night. Some patchy light freezing rain is also possible.

Here’s how the storm looks to the northeast:

Huge waves are expected to roll in off of Lake Superior Thursday afternoon and early evening:

It'll be interesting to watch the Duluth harbor cam Thursday!

Winter storm warnings continue in northeastern Minnesota, plus parts of north-central and northwestern Minnesota:

You can check for forecast updates from the National Weather Service offices in the Twin Cities,  Grand Forks, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., La Crosse, Wis.,  and Duluth.

Updated road conditions will be posted by the Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments.

Snow totals

The snow total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 8 inches from Wednesday through 7 a.m. this Thursday. An updated total will be released early this afternoon.

You can check snow accumulations as they are posted by the NWS. Hover over a location on their snow map site to see the snow total and the time of observation. There were already several reports of 8 inches or more from this storm in this morning snapshot:

Programming note

MPR news will have updates on this winter storm throughout the day.

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.