Soggy, green Christmas

Record warm air and abundant moisture have been spreading rain across Minnesota to bring us a soggy, green Christmas. The Twin Cities had a record high temperature of 54 to make Christmas 2023 the warmest of record.

Rain spread northwestward to reach just about all of the state. Here is the composite radar at about 6 p.m. on Monday:

While most of the rain has been just of the liquid variety, cooler temperatures farther west and north have turned it into mixed precipitation including ice pellets and freezing rain. Snow has been falling and blowing in states to our west. Here is the big picture:

Winter weather advisories for freezing rain will remain in effect until various times Monday evening or on Tuesday for western and especially northern Minnesota. The worst of the icing will be from the East Grand Forks, Minn. area to much of eastern North Dakota and northeastern South Dakota.

Heavy snow and blowing snow leading to blizzard conditions threaten to shut down much of South Dakota and Nebraska.

Icing in Minnesota

The icing forecast for Minnesota calls for more than a tenth of an inch of freezing rain in parts of the Minnesota Arrowhead and as much as a quarter of an inch possible along the North Dakota border in northwestern Minnesota.

Tapering precipitation

Rain will begin tapering off gradually Monday night. Tuesday should see areas of rain and, as cooler air settles in, areas of snow. Scattered rain showers and light snow are possible into Wednesday. Here are forecast snowfall amounts through 6 p.m. on Wednesday:

Cooler temperatures coming

Tuesday should bring high temperatures mainly from the low 30s northwest to the low 40s south. The Twin Cities should have a high in the mid 40s, thanks to the urban heat island.

High temperatures will slip a bit more into the 30s later in the week. But no seasonably-cold air seems poised to come our way before the end of the year.