Rain for the metro area Sat. night into Sunday, while heavy snow hits parts of western and northern Minnesota

Freezing rain made many Twin Cities metro area roads and streets icy Saturday morning:

This sidewalk was more suitable for skating than walking Saturday morning:

Thankfully, temperatures rose Saturday afternoon and much of the ice melted. Some spotty icy patches lingered into Saturday evening.

Winter storm continues

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Saturday evening through Sunday evening:

Green indicates rain, while blue is snow and pink/purple is a wintry mix in the loop.

In the warmer air from the Twin Cities metro area though southeastern Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin we’ll see mainly rain Saturday evening through Sunday morning, with a rain shower chance Sunday afternoon. We might even hear thunder at times. In the colder air in western and northern Minnesota, it’ll be mostly snow. There’ll be a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow from southwestern Minnesota through central Minnesota and off toward far northwestern Wisconsin.

Snow amounts

Weekend snow amounts will be highest in west-central Minnesota through much of the northern third of Minnesota.

Here are amounts to the west and northwest:

Snow amounts will be lighter in much of southwestern Minnesota this weekend:

Northeastern Minnesota snow totals come in two batches. This first graphic shows snow totals through Sunday afternoon, with “tonight” referring to Saturday night:

Another low pressure system spins snow over Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday:

Potential Sunday evening through Monday night totals look like this:

The Twin Cities metro area could see two to three inches of snow on Monday.

Warnings and advisories

Here’s an updated map of winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories for this weekend:

The winter weather advisory for Isanti and Chisago counties just north of the metro area is set to expire at 9 p.m. this Saturday.

Here are the warnings and advisories to the northeast:

And to the northwest:

The warnings and advisories may be adjusted as we continue through the weekend.

Updates on the winter storm will be posted by the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth, Grand Forks, La Crosse and Sioux Falls.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will have updated road conditions. Wisconsin road conditions can be found here.

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Temperature trends

Sunday highs range from 20s northwest to 40s southeast:

Monday highs reach the 30s in the east, with falling temperatures by afternoon in most areas:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 20s on Tuesday, followed by lower 30s on New Year’s Day.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.