Heavy snow for northern Minnesota into Friday; rain, snow showers south

Before I dig into the winter storm that’s hitting northern Minnesota into Friday, I’ll mention the tornado drill that’s happening statewide Thursday afternoon.

This is severe weather awareness week in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Here’s the latest from Todd Krause, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen, on Thursday’s planned tornado drills.

Here are details:

These are sources of severe weather information:

You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network.

Another snowstorm

The same weather system that’s bringing rain to southern Minnesota and much of Wisconsin today will being snow to much of northern Minnesota and parts of central Minnesota Thursday afternoon into Friday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 1 p.m. Thursday to 6 p.m. Friday:

Portions of northeastern Minnesota will see a period freezing rain before the transition to snow.

Southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area will have periods of rain Thursday into Thursday evening with a few embedded thunderstorms possible. Thunderstorm chances are higher Thursday afternoon and evening in Iowa, Illinois and southern and central Wisconsin.

How much snow?

Here’s the Thursday-Friday snow forecast for eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota:

Here’s the Thursday evening through Friday snow forecast for northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

Minimal snow accumulations are expected to the south:

The Twin Cities metro area could see some snow mix with rain late Thursday evening, then some periods of snow showers into Friday and Friday night.

Warnings and advisories

Here are winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories Thursday into Friday:

Details of the winter storm warning in northwestern Minnesota:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 401 AM CDT Thu Apr 20 2023 MNZ001-004>009-013>017-220600- /O.UPG.KFGF.WS.A.0008.230420T1200Z-230421T1200Z/ /O.NEW.KFGF.WW.Y.0023.230421T0900Z-230422T0600Z/ /O.NEW.KFGF.WS.W.0007.230420T1800Z-230421T0900Z/ West Polk-Kittson-Roseau-Lake Of The Woods-West Marshall- East Marshall-North Beltrami-Pennington-Red Lake-East Polk- North Clearwater-South Beltrami- Including the cities of Crookston, East Grand Forks, Hallock, Karlstad, Lancaster, Roseau, Warroad, Greenbush, Baudette, Warren, Stephen, Argyle, Newfolden, Middle River, Grygla, Red Lake, Redby, Ponemah, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Falls, Fosston, Fertile, McIntosh, Erskine, Bagley, Clearbrook, and Bemidji 401 AM CDT Thu Apr 20 2023 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 4 AM CDT FRIDAY... ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM FRIDAY TO 1 AM CDT SATURDAY... * WHAT...Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches, with locally higher amounts possible. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph. * WHERE...Portions of north central and northwest Minnesota. * WHEN...For the Winter Storm Warning, from 1 PM this afternoon to 4 AM CDT Friday. For the Winter Weather Advisory, from 4 AM Friday to 1 AM CDT Saturday. * IMPACTS...Significantly reduced visibility from heavy snow rates and accumulating snow will make travel very difficult. The hazardous conditions will impact the Thursday and Friday commutes. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...With ongoing flooding and water filled ditches, it is possible vehicles may slide off the road into very cold water. There remains a notable degree of uncertainty in snow amounts and associated impacts. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Consider altering or delaying travel, and obey travel advisories and road closures. If you must travel, slow down, don`t use cruise control, and use extra caution while traveling. Due to the wet and heavy nature of expected snow, take frequent breaks when shoveling snow. The latest road conditions for North Dakota can be found at travel.dot.nd.gov and for Minnesota at 511mn.org, or by calling 5 1 1 in either state.

Here are winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories (blue) in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

Check forecast updates if you have northern Minnesota travel plans today or Friday.

Chilly weekend

The average April 22 Twin Cities high temperature is 60 degrees. Metro area highs will be around 40 degrees on Saturday.

Much of Minnesota will have Saturday highs in the 30s, with lower 40s in southeastern Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin:

Sunday highs will be mainly in the 30s in the northern half of Minnesota, with mostly 40s elsewhere:

Mainly dry

Snow showers may linger in parts of Minnesota and western Wisconsin early Saturday morning, but most of Saturday and Sunday look dry.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 7 a.m. Saturday to 7 am. Sunday:

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. each Saturday and Sunday.