Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Snowfall totals up north; sunnier, milder days ahead

6th snowiest snowfall season on record in Duluth

Grand Marais harbor webcam
Grand Marais harbor webcam Wednesday
Cook County, Minn.

It looks like we’ll finally get a break in our wet and snowy weather pattern across most of Minnesota. Northern Minnesota, however, is digging out from one more sloppy snowfall Wednesday.

Four to 10 inches has fallen across the northern parts of our state. Here are some select snowfall totals rolling in Wednesday:

  • Moorhead, 6.6 inches

  • Pelican Rapids, 6 inches

  • Brainerd area, 4-5 inches

  • Grand Rapids, 6 inches

  • Hibbing, 7 inches

  • Duluth area, 4-5 inches

  • Silver Bay, 7.6 inches

  • Lutsen, 8 inches

  • Grand Marais area, 7-10 inches

In the Twin Cities, it was rain. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport picked up 26 one-hundredths (.26) of an inch of precipitation overnight.

Season snowfall records

Our latest storm brought the season snowfall in Duluth up to 125.4 inches. That is good enough for the sixth snowiest season on record in the past 137 years dating back to 1885.

Snowfall records for the Duluth area go back to 1885, or about 137 full seasons of history as of the 2022-2023 winter. Snowfall observations have been taken at the property now known as the Duluth International Airport since 1941, with various locations closer to Lake Superior before this time period.

Duluth season snowfall
Duluth season snowfall
Duluth National Weather Service office

Brainerd has recorded 79.6 inches this season, that’s the second snowiest season on record.

Brainerd season snowfall
Brainerd season snowfall
Duluth National Weather Service office

The Twin Cities remains at 81.2 inches, the eighth snowiest season on record.

Milder days ahead

I know so many of us are so done with winter this year. A few more snow showers will clip the Interstate 90 corridor in southern Minnesota Thursday.

Looking for a little optimism in the forecast? I see some sneaky whispers of more springlike weather in the next few days.

The sun returns to much of Minnesota Thursday and Friday. Highs will warm into the low 40s in parts of northern Minnesota, with mid to upper 40s in the south. A few forecast models hint at temperatures close to 50 degrees Saturday afternoon from the Twin Cities southward.

Forecast high temperatures Saturday
Forecast high temperatures Saturday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

It looks like we are about to see a break in the wet pattern for most of the next week. Wednesday’s European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model is printing out temperatures in the 50s to near 60 degrees from the Twin Cities into southern Minnesota next Wednesday and Thursday.

European model (ECMWF) temperature forecast
Temperature forecast for Thursday, March 30
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, via Pivotal Weather

Take that with a grain of salt, but there are hopeful whispers for warmer weather ahead.

Stay tuned.