Light snow and ice Thursday followed by another cold blast for Minnesota

Temperatures rose across the state overnight Wednesday and will continue to climb into the afternoon. That puts Thursday high temperatures back at or above average ranging from the upper teens in northwestern Minnesota to 30s in the southeast corner of the state.

There is not a lot of precipitation with this system. Due to the temperatures it will predominantly be light snow for northern Minnesota, and light snow switching to light rain for southern Minnesota.

However, with warmer air coming in over the colder air we had in place on Wednesday, there will be some areas of light freezing rain or drizzle, especially for eastern Minnesota.

Here are the different precipitation types we could be looking at by early afternoon:

For snow amounts, only northern Minnesota may see some light accumulation, with the highest amounts possible along northern Lake Superior.

Because of the snow and ice potential, Lake and Cook counties are under a winter weather advisory until 4 p.m. Thursday (highlighted in purple).

By late Thursday afternoon most of the precipitation moves out.

Another cold blast

As the storm moves out, the flow behind it funnels cold air back across the state. Temperatures will fall steadily from Thursday evening through Saturday morning, except for maybe a temporary level-off or increase of a couple degrees Friday afternoon. Here is how that temperature trend looks for Moorhead:

Most places will see their highs Friday come at the very start of the day. By Saturday morning, all but the southeast corner of the state will be back below zero.

Temperatures across the state recover to average January highs by Sunday.

Next week

Already by Sunday, there is another chance for snow across the state, but it stays very light, with most places seeing an inch or less. There are additional chances for snow in the week ahead, but right now everything looks like it will stay very light, with the entire total snow through next Thursday staying 3 inches or less for most of Minnesota.

Temperatures will likely stay at or slightly above average for the first part of the week, then there is a lot of uncertainty. Some models bring us very cold air by Wednesday, while others put Minnesota only slightly below average toward the end of the week.

We’ll update you as the temperature forecast becomes clearer, but it never hurts to have a plan for extreme cold in January!