Mainly rain for Twin Cities area Friday into Saturday; rain, then snow up north

It’s been much drier than normal the past few weeks, so it’s good to see some precipitation Friday into Saturday.

As of midday Friday, rain was falling across much of southwestern Minnesota through central Minnesota and northeastern Minnesota plus northwestern Wisconsin. Spotty showers could be found elsewhere in Minnesota and in west-central Wisconsin.

Precipitation forecast

Rain coverage will expand to include most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin as we go through Friday afternoon. Cooler air will arrive Friday evening, so much of central and northeastern Minnesota will see a transition to a rain-snow mix and then to mostly snow.

Periods of mostly snow are expected overnight and Saturday morning across much of central and northeastern Minnesota. Far northwestern Wisconsin could also see a bit of snow on Saturday.

Southwestern Minnesota will see rain change to a rain-snow mix overnight, with some light snow possible Saturday morning.

The Twin Cities metro area and southeastern Minnesota will have periods of rain Friday evening into Saturday morning, possibly mixed with flakes at times Friday night and Saturday morning.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 3 p.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Saturday:

Here are forecast snow amounts through Saturday afternoon, from the National Weather Service

Notice the potential of 2 inches from Brainerd to Duluth. One forecast model shows higher snow totals in that corridor, but relatively warm ground could decrease snow accumulations initially.

A change of just a few degrees in the temperature profile of the lowest part of the atmosphere will skew the precipitation toward either rain or snow.

Here’s a timeline for rain and snow in portions of northern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin:

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. Also check out the MPR News display of National Weather Service radar.

Sunday looks dry across most of Minnesota.

Weekend temps

The average Twin Cities high temperature is 28 degrees on Dec. 16. Metro area highs are forecast to be around 40 degrees on Saturday.

Much of Minnesota will have Saturday highs in the 30s, with some lower 40s in the southeast:

Highs in the 30s are expected across most of Minnesota on Sunday, with 20s in parts of the northwest:

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