Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Subzero Thursday morning across Minnesota. Sloppy snow chance Saturday?

30s return this weekend in southern Minnesota

Forecast low temperatures Thursday morning
Forecast low temperatures Thursday morning
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

How about those Vikings?

At least it gives us something else to talk about besides the gnarly winter weather in Minnesota.

Thursday we wake to a bitterly cold arctic air mass across Minnesota. We’ll bottom out somewhere around minus 5 in the Twin Cities, but most of Minnesota will shiver through teens below zero with some minus 20s in the far northwest.

Factor in wind chills and it feels like deadly minus 30s across northern Minnesota overnight with minus 20s heading south.

Wind chill temperatures
Wind chill temperatures late Wednesday
Oklahoma Mesonet

Our bitter air mass eases gradually through Friday. This weekend, temperatures will return to the 30s in southern Minnesota.

Forecast high temperatures Sunday
Forecast high temperatures Sunday
NOAA

Snow chance Saturday

The forecast models are hinting at a low-pressure system spinning north from Iowa Saturday. There’s the usual differences in track and intensity, but some sloppy snow or mixed wintry precipitation looks likely on Saturday.

Here’s the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s depiction of what looks like a wintry mess at 6 a.m. Saturday:

winter weather
Weather for 6 a.m. Saturday
NOAA

NOAA’s Global Forecast System shows the system spinning northward:

NOAA GFS model
Global Forecast System model between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

Forecast models are light on snowfall totals on Saturday right now. Here’s NOAA’s digital forecast database snowfall output:

Snowfall projection for Minnesota
Snowfall projection for Minnesota
NOAA

NOAA’s Global Forecast System model is the most aggressive, with a few inches of slush:

NOAA GFS snowfall output
Global Forecast System snowfall output Saturday
NOAA, via Pivotal Weather

We’ll need to keep an eye on this system, but right now it looks like a sloppy snow and ice mix. Temperatures will be around or below freezing, so roads could be an issue on Saturday.

Forecast high temperatures Saturday
Forecast high temperatures Saturday
NOAA

Stay tuned.