Snow and Blowing Snow Continue to Impact Travel Today

LUNCHTIME CURRENTS:

Right now, we are seeing plenty of snow falling in our eastern counties as well as in Lakes Country. This snow appears to be fairly light. The heavier snow is off to our southeast in the St. Cloud area. Further to the southeast near the Twin Cities, the precipitation is falling as rain.

Temperatures across the Valley are around 20°. However, there is a bit of a spread between our lowest temperatures which are in the low teens in the northwest. In the southeast, temps are in the upper 20s.

Winds are out of the north. In the north, the winds are weaker. They are blowing at about 15-20 mph. In locations south of Highway 2, however, the winds are blowing at 25-30 mph with gusts over 40 mph.

Visibility in Lakes Country is extremely limited. In that region, visibility is around 1 mile.

FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAYS

THURSDAY - FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAY: Snow showers continue to impact areas in the eastern and far southern parts of the valley (mainly west central MN to Lake of the Woods & points east). Even as snow ends heading through the afternoon, roads remain icy and snow covered in a lot of areas and wind will continue to cause blowing snow. Temps will continue to slide into the teens and twenties this afternoon. The winds will continue to blow out of the north at about 25-40 mph, causing chill to be near zero in many areas.

By the evening drive, the snow will be finished for most of the area. It will continue to snow for some place in our extreme eastern communities. The winds will remain strong, but will be more out of the northwest than north.

Overnight, the snow organized snow will be finished. Some places in our northern counties could still see a spotty flurry or two though. The winds will be easing somewhat while still blowing from the north up to 20 to 30 mph overnight. The relative lull will continue into Friday morning.

FRIDAY - FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAY: Cold and blustery Friday. Morning lows once again return to the single digits with lower wind chills. Scattered light snow showers will develop again heading into midday and evening, more likely on the Minnesota side of the Red River. The wind will be another issue, leading to blowing snow, reduced visibility in spots, and impacts to travel with icy roads, which could put a damper on any St. Patrick’s Day plans. High temperatures Friday will be in the upper single digits and low teens. Snow ends late Friday evening with some wind lingering into the start of Saturday.

EXTENDED PLANNER:

SATURDAY - SUNDAY: The weather will be much more cooperative this weekend compared to last weekend for St. Patrick’s day events. That’s if we don’t get too much snow leading up to events Saturday! Breezy weather will linger into Saturday morning, but will ease throughout the day. The morning will be colder with single digits, but the afternoon warms generally into the teens and low 20s with partly cloudy to mostly sunny conditions. Mostly sunny skies are expected again Sunday. Sunday morning lows drop again into the single digits either side of zero - a few degrees colder than Saturday morning. The afternoon, though, will be a few degrees warmer in the teens to mid 20s.

MONDAY - TUESDAY: We will begin a nice warming trend on Monday. We will begin the day with temperatures in the single digits. However, we will have a big warm-up by the afternoon despite building clouds. Our high temperatures will be in the teens and 20s. We will continue to warm up on Tuesday. Our lows will be in the single digits and teens, but our afternoon temperatures will be in the upper teens to near 30° in some places in our southeastern counties.

WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY: Our warming trend continues on Wednesday. We will begin the day with temperatures around 20°, but will warm up into the 30s for most of the area. Some places may even hit 40°! Thursday will be our last day of warming. Temperatures will be similar to what they were on Wednesday. However, there is a chance for some snow/rain mix to move into the area. We are more than a week out from this system, so it is hard to pinpoint the track, timing, and impacts of this system. We will keep you updated as this system approaches.

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