Winter blast: Heavy snow, cold target Minnesota this weekend

Following a mild Friday, major changes impact Minnesota over the weekend thanks to a storm that brings heavy snow, high winds, and much colder temperatures.

Friday’s forecast

The disturbance that brought light snow and rain across much of Minnesota overnight cleared most of the state as of 9 a.m. with the exception of the Arrowhead, where areas of light snow could linger into the afternoon.

Behind the wet weather, a few patches of fog developed and will lift through midday. Other than that, Minnesota sees a quiet day Friday with clearing skies and more sunshine by the afternoon. 

The clouds and moisture overnight helped keep temperatures mild, with most of the state beginning Friday I the 20s and 30s.

Highs will also be above average, by about 5 to 10 degrees, in the 30s north and 40s south. 

Weekend storm

Northwesterly winds prevail again by late Friday and that cooler flow drops highs to the 20s north and 30s south by Saturday which is seasonable for early December.

Clouds increase during the day, and snow starts to move into western Minnesota by Saturday ahead of a strong snow storm.

The low-pressure center of that storm is currently forecast to move across central Minnesota during the day Sunday.

This keeps the heaviest precipitation and the cold air north, so for northern Minnesota and much of central Minnesota, all of the precipitation with this storm should remain snow.

Portions of northern Minnesota could easily see over 6 inches of snow, and with lake enhancement, the North Shore may see some snow totals exceed a foot.

Because of this, all of northern Minnesota is already under a winter storm watch valid from Saturday evening through most of Sunday.

Southern Minnesota sees much lighter precipitation, and the storm brings slightly milder air Sunday (highs in the 40s south versus 20s in northern Minnesota). This means rain is likely to mix-in with the snow during the day Sunday for southern locations including the Twin Cities.

The Twin Cities forecast is for up to 2 inches of snow, but that could vary if the track of the storm shifts or if temperatures shift warmer/colder making more of the precipitation trend toward rain or snow.

We will keep you updated on forecast snow totals throughout the weekend here on Updraft and MPR News.

Snow finally starts clearing out late Sunday, but as the storm moves east, it draws in much colder air behind it.

Gusty northwest winds over 30 mph on Monday will send temperatures falling through the day.

By the afternoon, temperatures will be only in the single digits north with teens south, and wind chills for most of the state are expected to be subzero.

Here is the temperature forecast for the Twin Cities through Tuesday:

Monday’s high in the 20s is the forecast temperature just after midnight.

Colder air persists Tuesday as well, then temperatures slowly turn milder the second half of the week.

Programming note

 You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Monday through Friday morning.