Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

More snow develops Wednesday. Frigid weekend coming

Subzero temperatures will grip the entire state over the weekend

a forest covered in snow
Late afternoon January colors in the boreal forest in Stony River Township.
Courtesy of Jana Studelska

Updated 9:45 a.m.

Another round of snow develops west to east Wednesday into early Thursday. A larger storm system may graze southern Minnesota Friday and Saturday ahead of frigid weekend temps. 

Another round of snow coming Wednesday and potentially Friday

Get ready for another round of light snow developing for much of the state Wednesday into early Thursday. Light snow showers will start in western Minnesota and expand east through the day into Wednesday night. 

wed-thu 9a
Forecast precipitation 9 a.m. Wednesday through 3 p.m. Thursday
NOAA via pivotal weather

Snowfall will generally be on the lighter side, under 1 to 2 inches for most, but there will be higher amounts along portions of the North Shore.

MN snow 6a
Forecast snowfall Wednesday into Thursday
National Weather Service

Winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings are posted for the North Shore for noon Wednesday through 6 p.m. Thursday.

dlh
Winter weather advisories (purple) and winter storm warnings (pink) for the North Shore area
National Weather Service

Thanks to east winds off of Lake Superior, parts of the higher terrain along the North Shore could see 6 to 10 inches.

DLH snow
Forecast snowfall for the North Shore Wednesday into Thursday
National Weather Service

Highs Wednesday will be mostly in the 20s across the state under the clouds and developing snow showers.

wed hi 9a
Forecast highs Wednesday
National Weather Service

Another round of snow is possible Thursday night into Saturday across southern Minnesota as a larger storm develops to our south.  

end of week prec
Forecast precipitation 6 p.m. Thursday through 6 a.m. Saturday
NOAA via pivotal weather

There are still a range of possibilities with the track of the Friday system, but some models are now pushing totals upwards and northward. We’ll definitely need to monitor forecast model runs today and tomorrow. Here’s the range of scenarios among our forecast models below. Note: these are not forecasts but simply computer model potential output for snowfall:

fri snow
Forecast model scenarios for snowfall Thursday night into Saturday
NOAA via pivotal weather

Here comes the coldest air of winter so far

Frigid air then comes slamming in for the weekend. Western Minnesota will already see subzero low temps Thursday night. Winds will increase Friday as colder air dives south.

winds Fri
Forecast winds 12 a.m. Friday through 6 p.m.
College of DuPage Weather

Weekend high temperatures will be frigid with single digits east Saturday and subzero west. By Sunday high temperatures will struggle to reach zero statewide even.

weekend highs
Forecast high temperatures this weekend
National Weather Service

Of course the overnights will bring the coldest temperature readings with lows in the teens below zero in portions of western and northern Minnesota.

weekend lows
Forecast overnight lows this weekend
National Weather Service

Factoring the winds over the weekend into those temperatures and we’re looking at brutal wind chill values both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Some wind chills will be as cold as 35 to 40 below zero west.

weekend chills
Forecast wind chills early Saturday and Sunday
National Weather Service

While cold, these readings come more than a month later than normal. In the Twin Cities, it looks to be our sixth latest subzero temperature reading. Temperatures should modify through next week to normal levels by the end of next week.