Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Recap of snow totals as cleanup continues; Quiet and a bit cooler this weekend

Fourth highest January snowstorm total in Twin Cities weather records

Two people walk among snowy trees
Two people walk through Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023.
Ben Hovland | MPR News
A child skis while her mother watches
Sarah Rorvick watches her daughter, Nina, ski through fresh snow in Powderhorn Park n Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023.
Ben Hovland | MPR News

Accumulating snow from our latest storm has tapered off or ended across most of Minnesota. Periods of very light snow or flurries are possible this afternoon/early evening in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A stray flurry is possible elsewhere in Minnesota this afternoon.

Snow totals

The official Twin Cities snow total (measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) is 15.0 inches from our latest storm:

Our latest snowstorm delivered the 14th highest snowstorm total in Twin Cities weather records, which date back to 1884:

snow list
Top snowfalls for the Twin Cities
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

This was the fourth-biggest January snowstorm total in Twin Cities weather records. In January of 1982, we had two really big snowstorms just two days apart. You can read more about those storms here.

Snow totals from this latest snowstorm are posted by the National Weather Service here. You can adjust the slider at the top of the linked site to get snow reports received as far back as 72 hours. That’s what I did to generate the map of snow reports received over the past few days:

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Snow totals received in the past three days
NOAA/NWS

You can see the highest snow totals were from southwestern Minnesota through the Twin Cities to near Duluth and into northwestern Wisconsin.

You can zoom the map at the linked site to get exact snow totals and the time of the snow measurement. Here are storm total reports received in the Twin Cities metro area:

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Three-day snow totals updated in the past 24 hours
NOAA/National Weather Service

Lakeville had the highest reported 3-day metro area snow total from this storm, with 17.7 inches.

Quiet weekend weather

We aren’t expecting any additional snow this weekend, as a high pressure system remains nearby.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the pressure pattern and the potential precipitation pattern from 6 a.m. Saturday through 6 p.m. Sunday:

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Simulated radar from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Sunday
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

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.

Weekend temps

Our average Twin Cities high temp is 24 degrees on Jan.7. We’re expecting metro area highs around 20 degrees this Saturday. Western Minnesota will see Saturday highs in the teens, with lower 20s in much of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

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Saturday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Winds will be fairly light this weekend, so afternoon wind chill temps will be in the single-digits above zero in western Minnesota and mainly in the teens above zero elsewhere in Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Sunday highs will be mainly in the 20s:

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Sunday forecast highs
National Weather Service

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.