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Duluth adding to record season snowfall; winter storm warnings up north

Milder weather in sight next week

Record snowfall
Record season snowfall in Duluth
Duluth National Weather Service office

Another day. Another record. This time it’s Duluth.

Duluth on Thursday punched its ticket for the snowiest season on record — 137.1 inches as of early Thursday, breaking the previous record set in 1995-96.

More snow will fall through Friday.

In central Minnesota, Brainerd has also recorded its snowiest season on record. The Twin Cities remain in third place with a respectable 90.3 inches of snow this season at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as of this post.

More snow and ice up north

Our latest storm continues to deliver snow and ice across northern Minnesota through Friday. One-quarter inch of ice has coated surfaces in Duluth so far.

There are reports of some trees down with 50 mph wind gusts in the Duluth area.

Snow continues across northern Minnesota overnight into Friday. The snow is locally heavy. Here’s a look at the likely storm total snowfall.

Snowfall projection for Minnesota 2
Snowfall projection for Minnesota
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Winter storm warnings north

Winter storm warnings continue into Friday for much of northern Minnesota from the Red River Valley east to Ely.

Here’s the warning zone from the Duluth National Weather Service office.

Winter storm warnings and advisories
Winter storm warnings and advisories
Duluth National Weather Service office

Here’s the view of northwestern Minnesota from the Grand Forks, N.D., National Weather Service office.

Winter weather warnings and advisories 2
Winter weather warnings and advisories.
Grand Forks NWS office

Soaking rains

Heavy rainfall has soaked much of central and southern Minnesota once again. I saw standing water in farm fields in Carver County Thursday. We’ve gone from too little moisture last fall to way too much this spring.

Here are some select rainfall totals as of this post.

  • Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, 1.07 inches

  • St. Paul, 1.26 inches

  • St. Cloud, 1.41 inches

The Twin Cities will see occasional light rain and snow showers into Saturday on the backside of this system. Little if any significant accumulation is expected.

Temperatures will hover below average through the upcoming weekend.

Forecast high temperatures Saturday
Forecast high temperatures Saturday
NOAA

Milder weather in sight

Looking for some warmer weather news? The medium-range forecast models suggest a drier, sunnier week next week. We won’t hit 80 again, but highs in the 50s look likely for most of the last week of April.

Forecast high temperatures Tuesday
Forecast high temperatures Tuesday
NOAA

A few forecast models suggest we’ll see more consistent 60s and possibly 70s in the first week of May.

NOAA GFS temperature forecast
Global Forecast System temperature forecast for May 5
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

Stay tuned.