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Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News
Ron Trenda

No big snows in southern Minnesota; plenty of snow up north

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We have about 2 inches of snow cover in the Twin Cities metro area right snow. That's just enough snow to keep questions about a white Christmas to a minimum!

So far this snow season, the Twin Cities official snowfall total stands at 4.3 inches, which is 10.9 inches below normal through Dec. 13.

Rochester, Minn., is 7.1 inches below normal so far this snow season, St. Cloud, Minn., is 5.1 inches below normal.

Duluth is doing well, sitting at 4.5 inches above normal for this snow season.

Minnesota snow depth 

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's snow depth map, much of northern Minnesota has more than 4 inches of snow on the ground, and some areas in the far north have more than 8 inches:

rt1214snow
NOAA/NWS snow depth

South-central Minnesota has little or no snow cover.

Snow lovers will have to be patient in southern Minnesota, since no big snows are in sight.

Snow chances

Northern Minnesota will see some periods of mostly light snow this Thursday, with very light snow showers or flurries possible in central and southern Minnesota.

Much of Minnesota will see periods of light snow on Friday, and periods of snow are expected Friday night and Saturday in the north.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential snow pattern Thursday through Saturday:

rt1214rad2
NOAA NAM simulated radar Thursday through Saturday, via tropicaltidbits

Southwestern Minnesota will once again have the fewest snowflakes.

Northern Minnesota will have the most snow over the next few days:

rt1215dlh
NWS Duluth

Temperature trends

Our average high is 27 degrees right now in the Twin Cities metro area. We'll be around average Thursday and Friday, with above average highs this weekend.

Minnesota will see mostly 20s for highs Thursday afternoon, with some teens in the far north. A few spots in the southwest could touch 30 degrees.

Similar highs are on tap for most of Minnesota on Friday:

rt1215h

Southwestern Minnesota will pop into the 30s on Friday.

Saturday highs will be a few degrees warmer than Friday's highs in central and northern Minnesota:

rt1216h2

The Twin Cities metro area should top out around 30 on Saturday, then reach the lower 30s on Sunday.

Highs in the upper 30s are expected in the Twin Cities on Monday, followed by middle 30s Tuesday and Wednesday.

One forecast models shows Twin Cities highs in the teens December 22, 23 and 25, with 20s on Christmas Eve.

We'll see, that's still about 10 days away!

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.