Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Highly variable snow cover across Minnesota

From bare ground to over a foot of snow in parts of Minnesota.

Snow depth Thursday
Snow depth Thursday
NOAA/NOHRSC

It’s a patchwork of snow cover this week across Minnesota.

Looking for a foot of snow on the ground? Head northeast. Searching for bare ground? Go west.

You can see on the map above that locations like Waston in western Minnesota are now mostly snow-free. Even Litchfield, an hour west of the Twin Cities reports just one inch of snow on the ground Thursday.

Minnesota’s cover pattern for late February reflects random snowfall tracks from the various storms over the winter. It also reflects unseasonably mild temperatures lately in western Minnesota.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-16 visible satellite loop Thursday afternoon shows a snow-free zone in western Minnesota. IThe darker shades in northeast Minnesota reflect coniferous forests, but there is plenty of snow underneath those trees.

NOAAA GOES-16 visible satellite loop Thursday
NOAAA GOES-16 visible satellite loop Thursday
NOAA via COD Weather Lab

There’s still plenty of snow to play with in the woods up north. Many locations report around or over a foot of snow.

Get out there and enjoy the snow cover. The forecast for the next two weeks favors more melting.

Temperature outlook
Temperature outlook
Twin Cities National Weather Service

Right now I don’t see any big March storms in sight. At least not yet.