Another 2-4 inches snow possible through Friday; cold weekend coming

Our snow globe weather continues across much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin Thursday afternoon and evening.

Allow extra travel time since many roads are slushy and slippery. Minnesota road conditions can be found here. Wisconsin road conditions can be found here.

Minneapolis and St. Paul have declared snow emergencies:

Snow reports

Parts of Minnesota have seen periods of snow for three consecutive days. Snow totals for this winter storm are highest over northeastern Minnesota:

A North Shore weather observer in Finland, Minn., has tallied 29 inches of snow from this storm. There is a storm total of 28 inches near Beaver Bay, Minn., about 14 miles from Finland. Some spots in northwestern Wisconsin have also seen more than 20 inches of snow:

Twin Cities metro area snow totals are in the 2 to 3-inch range through noon, with another 2 to 3 inches of snow possible into Thursday night.

You can see updated snow reports here. You can pan and zoom the map at the linked site to get snow totals plus the time and location of the snow measurement.

You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the Minnesota Public Radio News network, and on the MPR News live weather blog.

Additional snow

This is a very slow-moving winter storm that’s been delivering various forms of precipitation to Minnesota and Wisconsin since Tuesday.

Periods of snow will linger in many areas this afternoon and into Friday. Many locations will see an additional 2 to 4 inches of snow from this afternoon through Friday afternoon, and some locations could see an additional 5 inches of snow..

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from noon today to 10 p.m. Friday:

Warnings and advisories

The blizzard warning that was in effect this morning for the North Shore of Lake Superior has been replaced by a winter weather advisory for the afternoon hours.

A winter weather advisory covers western Wisconsin until 6 p.m. and the southern part of the metro area and portions of south-central Minnesota until 9 p.m. A winter storm warning continues in the northern half of the Twin Cities metro area and until 9 p.m. for areas to the west.

Here are details of the winter storm warning:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 1021 AM CST Thu Dec 15 2022 MNZ043>045-052-053-060>063-160000- /O.CON.KMPX.WS.W.0006.000000T0000Z-221216T0000Z/ Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Isanti-Chisago-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey- Washington- Including the cities of Little Falls, Princeton, Mora, Cambridge, Center City, Minneapolis, Blaine, St Paul, and Stillwater 1021 AM CST Thu Dec 15 2022 ...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Heavy snow with additional accumulations of up to two inches. * WHERE...Portions of central and east central Minnesota. * WHEN...Until 6 PM CST this evening. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. The latest road conditions for the state you are calling from can be obtained by calling 5 1 1. Road conditions can also be found at 511mn.org for Minnesota or 511wi.gov for Wisconsin.

The winter weather advisory for the south metro looks like this:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 1021 AM CST Thu Dec 15 2022 MNZ066>069-075>077-082>085-091>093-160030- /O.CON.KMPX.WW.Y.0027.000000T0000Z-221216T0300Z/ McLeod-Sibley-Carver-Scott-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice-Watonwan- Blue Earth-Waseca-Steele-Martin-Faribault-Freeborn- Including the cities of Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Shakopee, St Peter, Le Sueur, Faribault, St James, Mankato, Waseca, Owatonna, Fairmont, Blue Earth, and Albert Lea 1021 AM CST Thu Dec 15 2022 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Additional snow accumulations of 1 to 3 inches. * WHERE...Portions of central, east central and south central Minnesota. * WHEN...Until 9 PM CST this evening. * IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the evening commute.

Weekend snow chance?

A few light snow showers are possible on Saturday, especially in northern and eastern Minnesota plus portions of Wisconsin.

NOAA’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 3 a.m. Saturday to 5 p.m. Saturday:

Sunday looks snow-free.

Chilly weekend

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 28 degrees on Dec. 17. We’ll have metro area highs in the lower 20s Saturday. Western Minnesota will have Saturday highs in the teens:

Saturday afternoon wind chill temps will be below zero in the west:

Sunday highs will be in the teens in eastern Minnesota, with single-digit highs in the west:

Sunday afternoon wind chill temps will be below zero in most areas, with teens below zero to the west:

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. Saturday and Sunday.