Areas of early morning fog and freezing fog, then mild with plenty of sunshine

Light winds overnight and early Saturday morning have led to areas of fog. Dense fog and freezing fog will be possible until mid morning in portions of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement for the following area:

Details of the special weather statement:

Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 316 AM CST Sat Feb 22 2020 MNZ045-052-053-063-WIZ014>016-023>028-221500- Kanabec-Isanti-Chisago-Washington-Polk-Barron-Rusk-St. Croix- Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-Chippewa-Eau Claire- Including the cities of Mora, Cambridge, Center City, Stillwater, Osceola, Rice Lake, Ladysmith, Hudson, River Falls, Prescott, Menomonie, Durand, Chippewa Falls, and Eau Claire 316 AM CST Sat Feb 22 2020 Patchy freezing fog will be possible from west central Wisconsin to the Interstate 35 corridor in east central Minnesota through mid-morning. Motorists should expect to encounter rapid visibility changes due to pockets of dense fog, along with the potential for slick spots, particularly on untreated pavement. This includes the Interstate 94 corridor near Eau Claire and Menomonie.

Patchy dense fog is also possible in northeastern Minnesota this morning.

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

Mild temperatures

Our average Twin Cities high temperature for Feb. 22 (today) is 31 degrees. We’re expecting Saturday highs in the lower 40s in the Twin Cities metro area. Highs will be in the upper 30s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with some lower 40s in the south:

A few spots in north-central and northeastern Minnesota could touch 40 this afternoon.

Winds will be fairly light, so Saturday afternoon wind chills will be in the 30s south, with 20s to the north:

Snow depths

If you have outdoor plans this weekend, you’ll be happy to know that there’s plenty of snow on the ground across most of Minnesota. Here’s the latest snow depth map, courtesy of the Minnesota State Climatology Office and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:

Much of northern Minnesota has 18 inches or more of snow cover, and parts of northeastern Minnesota have more than 30 inches of snow on the ground. Portions of south-central and southeastern Minnesota have over 12 inches of snow cover. The official Twin Cities snow depth was 8 inches Friday morning. Our snow cover will shrink a bit during the afternoon hours this weekend, but we’re starting out with plenty of snow cover in most areas.

I’ll bet that many cross-country skiers, sledders, snowboarders and snowmobilers will be having fun outdoors this weekend!

I’ll post an updated Updraft by around 9:30, which will include your Sunday forecast and a look at the week ahead.

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.