Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Heavy snow, ice, wind rage across northern Minnesota; temps crash

Wintry air mass blasting into Minnesota

Winter storm warnings and advisories
Winter storm warnings and advisories.
Grand Forks, N.D., National Weather Service office

Bright colors are lighting up the weather maps across northern Minnesota. Take your pick of red, pink, blue, or fuchsia. That’s your winter weather type.

Blizzard warnings continue overnight for northwestern Minnesota and the Red River Valley.

Snowfall projection for northwest Minnesota
Snowfall projection for northwest Minnesota.
Grand Forks, N.D., National Weather Service office

Including the cities of Hallock, Karlstad, Lancaster, Roseau, Warroad, Greenbush, Warren, Stephen, Argyle, Newfolden, Middle River, Grygla, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Falls, Cando, Langdon, Cavalier, Walhalla, Drayton, Pembina, Neche, St. Thomas, Fort Totten, Maddock, Leeds, Minnewaukan, Devils Lake, Grafton, Park River, Edinburg, Adams, and Lankin

240 PM CST Thu Nov 10 2022

...BLIZZARD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM CST FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Blizzard conditions expected. Additional snow accumulations of 5 to 11 inches. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph.

* WHERE...Portions of northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota.

* WHEN...Until 4 AM CST Friday.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. Widespread blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions will impact the evening commute. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches.

Winter storm warnings ride the southern end of the blizzard zone.

Including the cities of Ada, Twin Valley, Halstad, Moorhead, Breckenridge, Fargo, and Wahpeton

240 PM CST Thu Nov 10 2022

...WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT...

* WHAT...Heavy mixed precipitation expected. Additional snow accumulation of up to 4 inches and ice accumulations of one tenth to three tenths of an inch. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph.

* WHERE...In Minnesota, Norman and Clay Counties. In North Dakota, Cass and Richland Counties.

* WHEN...Until midnight CST tonight.

* IMPACTS...Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice. Travel could be nearly impossible. Widespread blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility in open country. The hazardous conditions will impact the evening commute.

Winter weather advisories run just below that.

Including the cities of Ely, Bigfork, Hibbing, Two Harbors, Silver Bay, Walker, and Grand Rapids 237 PM CST Thu Nov 10 2022

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Mixed precipitation. Additional snow accumulations of up to 3 inches and ice accumulations of up to one tenth of an inch. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph.

* WHERE...North St. Louis, North Itasca, Central St. Louis, Southern Lake, North Cass and South Itasca Counties. This includes the Tribal Lands of the Bois Forte Band, Lake Vermilion, Nett Lake and, Deer Creek areas.

* WHEN...Until noon CST Friday.

* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute.

Snowfall projection
Snowfall projection
Duluth National Weather Service office

And how about an ice storm warning for good measure?

Northern Cook and Lake-Southern Cook- Including the cities of Isabella and Grand Marais

237 PM CST Thu Nov 10 2022

...ICE STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Significant icing. Additional snow accumulations of up to one inch and ice accumulations of around one tenth of an inch. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph.

* WHERE...Northern Cook and Lake and Southern Cook Counties. This includes the Tribal Lands of the Grand Portage Reservation.

* WHEN...Until 6 AM CST Friday.

* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Heaviest icing expected this afternoon and evening, which could impact the peak evening travel period. The Gunflint Trail and Highway 61 from Lutsen to Grand Portage could be affected by sudden icing and black ice conditions. The heaviest ice accumulations are expected inland from Lake Superior.

ice accumulations
Ice accumulations
Duluth National Weather Service office

Rain, wind, and much colder south

In the Twin Cities and most of central and southern Minnesota precipitation has been all rain. The heaviest rain bands set up north of the Twin Cities, as modeled Wednesday.

Here are some select rainfall totals across Minnesota. Some of these are reports from earlier Thursday, so final storm total reports may be higher in many locations.

  • Princeton, 2.7 inches

  • Duluth, 2.45 inches

  • Fort Ripley, 2.3 inches

  • Litchfield, 1.17 inches

  • Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport , .9 inch

  • Woodbury, .86 inch

Cold here to stay

Snow flurries may fly in the Twin Cities in the next couple of days. Temperatures in the Twin Cities crashed behind the cold front from 67 degrees before noon Thursday into the upper 30s by late afternoon.

That’s a 28-degree drop in about 6 hours!

Temperatures Thursday afternoon
Temperatures Thursday afternoon.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / Federal Aviation AdministrationAA/FAA

High temperatures through the weekend and into most of next week will hover in the 20s north and 30s south for Minnesota.

Forecast high temperatures Friday
Forecast high temperatures Friday
NOAA

The forecast models hint at some light snow possible around the Twin Cities next Monday into Tuesday.

Stay tuned.