Updated Wednesday snow totals, plus a look at the weekend

Commuters had to deal with snow this morning, but cross-country skiers, snowboarders and kids with sleds were probably happy to see the snow.

Prior to the snow that began Wednesday afternoon and continued through Wednesday evening, there hadn’t been a single snow event of 3 inches of more this snow season at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The biggest snow total had been the Oct. 30-31 snowfall of 2.7 inches, which was followed by just a few minor snow events in the following three months.

The Twin Cities official snowfall total Wednesday through Wednesday evening, measured at MSP airport, was 6.9 inches.

Light snow was reported at MSP airport slightly after midnight, so the storm total could be adjusted slightly upward. Prior to Wednesday, the 2023-24 season snowfall total at MSP airport was just 7.3 inches.

Storm totals through 7 a.m. Thursday were generally in the 5 to 7-inch range in the Twin Cities metro area:

Measurements in a few spots were taken early Wednesday evening and don’t reflect complete storm totals.

You can check Minnesota and western Wisconsin snow reports here. You can zoom in on the linked map and hover over any data point to get the location and time of that snow report plus the snow total.

Here’s a wider view of the Wednesday-Wednesday night snowfall map:

Yellow dots indicate 6 to 8 inches of new snow, the darkest-blue dots indicate 4 to 6 inches of new snow.

Weekend looks dry

Northeastern Minnesota could see some light snow showers Saturday morning, but most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin should have a dry weekend.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 4 a..m. Saturday to 6 p.m. Saturday:

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

Weekend temps

The average Twin Cities high temperature is 29 degrees on Feb. 17. Metro area highs will be in the lower 30s this Saturday.

Much of southern and central Minnesota plus the Red River Valley of northwestern Minnesota will reach the lower 30s this Saturday, with 20s elsewhere:

It’ll be a bit windy on Saturday, with gusts of 25 to 30 mph in many areas:

Some spots in far western Minnesota will see gusts over 30 mph at times.

Back to temperatures, Sunday highs will be in the mid to upper 30s across much of Minnesota, with some 20s in the far north:

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.