Wintry mix Sunday evening into early Monday; heavy snow in northern Minnesota

Parts of northern Minnesota will see heavy snow Sunday evening into Monday, while a wintry mix of light rain/light freezing rain, sleet and light snow moves across central and southern Minnesota.

The wintry mix is expected to bring an icy glaze to untreated roads, streets and sidewalks.

The big picture

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

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.

Snow and warnings/advisories

The heaviest snow Sunday evening into Monday morning will be in northern Minnesota:

Northeastern Minnesota will also see enough snow to shovel and plow:

"Tonight" in the graphic refers to Sunday night.

Much of northern Minnesota is in a winter storm warning Sunday evening into Monday morning:

Winter weather advisories for a wintry mix and lesser snow amounts are to the south of the warnings.

Northeastern Minnesota has a combination of winter storm warnings and advisories:

You can check snow accumulations as they are posted by the NWS. Hover over a location on the NWS snow map to see the snow total and the time of observation.

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

The Twin Cities metro area and much of southern Minnesota have winter weather advisories for periods of a wintry mix, which will create an icy coating on untreated roads, streets and sidewalks Sunday evening into early Monday:

Southeastern Minnesota has a dense fog advisory Sunday evening into Monday morning.

Here are details of the winter weather advisory that includes the Twin Cities metro area:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN

229 PM CST Sun Feb 3 2019

...FREEZING DRIZZLE EARLY THIS EVENING...

...FREEZING RAIN LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT...

.A Winter Weather Advisory has been expanded further to the west

and north across central Minnesota due to more freezing

precipitation expected vs, snow for later this evening, through

Monday morning. Also Freeborn County was added to this advisory

due more ice accumulation. Chippewa County in Wisconsin has been

cancelled due to much warmer conditions expected overnight,

limiting the potential of freezing precipitation.

Conditions will slowly deteriorate overnight as light precipitation

begins to develop across Iowa, and expand northward across

southern, and central Minnesota, as well as west central

Wisconsin. Initially, temperatures will hold, or remain nearly

steady above freezing across portions of south central, east

central Minnesota, and west central Wisconsin through midnight.

Once winds become more west or northwest overnight, temperatures

will begin to drop below freezing. Thus, freezing precipitation is

expected. Further to the west and north, temperatures will remain

below freezing leading to icy conditions developing faster.

Road conditions...based on the latest road sensors from the

Minnesota Department of Transportation, indicated above freezing

sensors from south central to east central Minnesota, as well as

west central Wisconsin.

MNZ051>053-058>063-065>070-073>078-082>085-091-092-WIZ014>016-

023>025-040500-

/O.CON.KMPX.WW.Y.0009.190204T0300Z-190204T1500Z/

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

Washington-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota-Redwood-

Brown-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca-

Steele-Martin-Faribault-Polk-Barron-Rusk-St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-

Including the cities of Elk River, Cambridge, Center City,

Litchfield, Monticello, Minneapolis, Blaine, St Paul, Stillwater,

Olivia, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chaska, Shakopee, Hastings,

Redwood Falls, New Ulm, St Peter, Le Sueur, Faribault, Red Wing,

St James, Mankato, Waseca, Owatonna, Fairmont, Blue Earth,

Osceola, Rice Lake, Ladysmith, Hudson, River Falls, Prescott,

and Menomonie

229 PM CST Sun Feb 3 2019

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS

EVENING TO 9 AM CST MONDAY...

* WHAT...Freezing rain or freezing drizzle expected. Little or no

snowfall is expected. Ice accumulations of one tenth of an inch

expected.

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

central, east central, south central, southeast and southwest

Minnesota.

* WHEN...From 9 PM this evening to 9 AM CST Monday.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The

hazardous conditions could impact the morning commute.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of snow, sleet or

freezing rain will cause travel difficulties. Expect slippery

roads and limited visibilities, and use caution while driving.

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.

"This evening" refers to Sunday evening.

You can check the latest forecasts from the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Grand Forks, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., La Crosse, Wis. and Duluth.

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.

Temperature trends

Our average high temp is 26 degrees this time of year in the Twin Cities metro area.

Falling temperatures are expected in most areas on Monday. Much of western and northern Minnesota will drop into the single digits. The Twin Cities metro area will start in the 20s, with temps dropping into the teens.

Metro area highs stay in the teens on Tuesday:

i

Metro highs return to the 20s on Wednesday:

It's back to the teens for metro area highs Thursday and Friday.

Temperature swings

Even the Spokane, Washington NWS office noticed our rebound from the polar vortex temperatures: