Less breezy today; varied precipitation tonight, Tuesday

Satellite photos taken on Sunday clearly showed where the snow cover is in Minnesota and Iowa. The swath of snow south of the metro area is all from the recent storm. Snow cover to the north is the cumulative result of the winter's snowfalls.

The snow shows up nicely on the open lands of west-central and northwestern Minnesota but hides a bit beneath the tree cover of the forested areas in the northeast.

Monday will be notable for the much lighter winds, generally 10 to 15 mph in open areas and just 5 to 10 mph in forested areas.

Clouds will continue to blanket the northern part of the state. The southern half of Minnesota should enjoy a mostly sunny morning before an advance of cloud cover from South Dakota this afternoon.

Warm front

An east-west warm front will separate a warmer air mass advancing slowly from the south from cooler air lingering over northern Minnesota.

High temperatures today will be in the chilly 20s in the far northwest corner of the state. Look for 30s across the rest of the north and also in the snow-covered southern sections. The metro area itself should warm to about 44 and would be even warmer if the wind were not coming in from over the snowpack in southern Minnesota.

Varied precipitation Monday night and Tuesday

A weak storm system will bring snow to northern Minnesota, light rain and drizzle to the south, and a mixture in between Monday night and Tuesday.

From 2 to 5 inches of snow is likely to accumulate in central and northeast Minnesota tonight and tomorrow, especially from Duluth and the Iron Range to the Arrowhead.

Lesser amounts are likely farther south from Alexandria and Morris to St. Cloud and Mora. That area is likely to pick up just an inch or two of snow, but it might be mixed with rain or sleet at times. Patchy light freezing rain or freezing drizzle is not out of the question if the surface temperature can cool sufficiently.

The Twin Cities metro area and southern Minnesota should expect periods of drizzle and patchy light rain. The Twin Cities' low temperature should remain sufficiently above freezing overnight to avoid freezing precipitation.

High temperatures tomorrow should range from the mid 20s to low 30s in the north and upper 30s to mid 40s in the south.

Weekend warmup likely

After rather normal high temperatures to begin March on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, next weekend will treat us to another warmup. The details are fuzzy at this time range, but I think the Twin Cities and other snow-free areas will see low 50s on Saturday and Sunday.

One additional note

A year ago today we enjoyed sitting outdoors in short sleeves as the Twin Cities had a record high temperature of 58. The normal high is 33.