A murky morning; dense fog advisory until 11 a.m. Saturday

We’ve had a lot of foggy mornings lately. Our Saturday morning will continue that trend.

A dense fog advisory covers much of central and southern Minnesota, plus three west-central Wisconsin counties, until 11 a.m.:

A dense fog advisory continues until noon today in northwestern Minnesota:

Here are details of the dense fog advisory which includes the Twin Cities metro area:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 332 AM CST Sat Jan 9 2021 MNZ041>045-047>070-073>077-082>084-091-091700- /O.CON.KMPX.FG.Y.0007.000000T0000Z-210109T1700Z/ Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Stevens-Pope-Stearns- Benton-Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa- Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington- Yellow Medicine-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota- Redwood-Brown-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice-Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca- Martin- Including the cities of Alexandria, Long Prairie, Little Falls, Princeton, Mora, Morris, Glenwood, St Cloud, Sauk Rapids, Elk River, Cambridge, Center City, Madison, Benson, Montevideo, Willmar, Litchfield, Monticello, Minneapolis, Blaine, St Paul, Stillwater, Granite Falls, Olivia, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Shakopee, Hastings, Redwood Falls, New Ulm, St Peter, Le Sueur, Faribault, St James, Mankato, Waseca, and Fairmont 332 AM CST Sat Jan 9 2021 ...DENSE FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM CST THIS MORNING... * WHAT...Visibility one quarter mile or less in dense fog. * WHERE...Portions of central, east central, south central, southwest and west central Minnesota. * WHEN...Until 11 AM CST this morning. * IMPACTS...Hazardous driving conditions due to low visibility. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Slick spots on roads, overpasses, and sidewalks are also possible as the fog freezes on exposed surfaces. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.

Some areas will see freezing fog at times, and possibly a stray flurry.

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

Temps and winds

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 23 degrees on Jan. 9. The metro area will top out in the low to mid 20s Saturday afternoon, with highs in the 20s across most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

A few spots in northwestern Minnesota may top 30 degrees.

Winds will be fairly light today, with gusts under 10 mph in most spots:

Snow cover

Thinking of playing in the snow today? The Thursday snow depth map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office shows at least 4 inches of snow cover in most locations, with 8 inches or more in northeastern Minnesota and parts of north-central Minnesota:

Update

This Updraft blog will be updated around 10:15 a.m., with details on the rest of the weekend 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 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.