Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Milder temperatures and snowy dustings ahead

A more typical January weather pattern the next few days

Twin Cities area forecast at a glance
Twin Cities area forecast at a glance
Twin Cities National Weather Service office

We’re searching for snow across most of Minnesota.

The forecast maps are finally hinting at some light candy coatings in the next few days. The first system rides east from the Dakotas on Thursday.

On the map below, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NAM 3 km model shows light snow bands drifting east into Minnesota on Thursday between 6 a.m. and 11:59 p.m.

NOAA NAM 3 km model
North American Mesoscale 3 km model between 6 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. Thursday
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

The second chance at snow appears to graze western and southern Minnesota Saturday into Sunday. Here’s NOAA’s Global Forecast System model output between 6 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday:

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

The American and Canadian models suggest the Twin Cities will ride the edge of snow this weekend. The European model is more aggressive, with snowfall potential through Sunday between both systems:

European model (ECMWF) snowfall output
European model snowfall output through Sunday
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, via Pivotal Weather

If the usually trusty Euro is right, we could see a decent coating of winter white by Sunday.

Stay tuned.