Another plowable snow this weekend
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If you bought a snow blower this winter, your timing was impeccable.
We had a double-digit snowfall in parts of the Twin Cities metro area on Jan. 22, and substantial snow elsewhere. The metro area has seen a few other 2- to 4-inch snowfalls this winter, allowing you to hone your snow-removal skills.
Add Thursday night's snowfall and the snow that's on tap for Saturday afternoon through Saturday night, and that snow blower purchase can be justified!
Snow totals
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The snow has ended in most of Minnesota, and it will taper off in northeastern Minnesota early this Friday afternoon.
Snowfall reports since Thursday afternoon included 5.6 inches at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and 5 inches in Stillwater and downtown Minneapolis.
I noticed a 3.8- inch report from Anoka, and a 6-inch report from Burnsville.
In western Minnesota, Montevideo had 7 inches of new snow.
The National Weather Service will update its snowfall map as new snowfall reports arrive. It's a zoomable map, and you can hover over a point to get details about the location and the time of the snow measurement.
Round 2
A low-pressure system will move toward the Upper Midwest Saturday. Snow is expected to begin in far southern Minnesota Saturday morning and then spread into the Twin Cities metro area around mid-afternoon on Saturday.
Snow is expected over much of Minnesota Saturday evening and through the overnight hours of Saturday night.
Northeastern Minnesota will probably see the snow continue into Sunday morning.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the highest snow accumulations from Saturday afternoon into early Sunday will be over eastern Minnesota into western Wisconsin:
It's interesting that NOAA's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the heaviest snow a bit to the west:
Models usually converge on a similar solution as we get closer to snow events.
It's likely that much of Minnesota and Wisconsin will see a plowable snow this weekend, and some areas will see 6 inches or more of snow:
A winter storm watch in in effect for much of southern, central and eastern Minnesota as well as parts of Wisconsin Saturday afternoon through Saturday night:
The winter weather advisory in northeastern Minnesota expires at noon this Friday, but that same area is in a winter storm watch that starts Saturday evening.
Details of the winter storm watch for the Twin Cities, that begins at 3 p.m. Saturday:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
818 AM CST Fri Feb 23 2018
...HEAVY SNOW EXPECTED SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SATURDAY NIGHT...
.A Winter Storm Watch remains in effect Saturday afternoon
through Saturday night for areas east of a line from Canby to
Little Falls, Minnesota. Moderate to heavy snow with rates of
1 to 2 inches per hour will overspread the area Saturday
afternoon and evening. A narrow swath with snowfall totals of
6 to 9 inches is likely across part of the watch area. This swath
of 6 to 9 inches won`t cover the entire watch area, but there is
still some uncertainty in where exactly the snow band will
develop. In addition, northwest winds gusting to near 30 mph
Saturday night will lead to areas of blowing snow, especially
across southern and western Minnesota. Travel could become very
difficult Saturday night through early Sunday.
MNZ049-051-057>060-062-066>070-076>078-084-085-093-232230-
/O.CON.KMPX.WS.A.0003.180224T2100Z-180225T1200Z/
Stearns-Sherburne-Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-Hennepin-Ramsey-McLeod-
Sibley-Carver-Scott-Dakota-Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue-Waseca-Steele-
Freeborn-
Including the cities of St Cloud, Elk River, Willmar, Litchfield,
Monticello, Minneapolis, St Paul, Hutchinson, Gaylord, Chaska,
Shakopee, Hastings, Le Sueur, Faribault, Red Wing, Waseca,
Owatonna, and Albert Lea
818 AM CST Fri Feb 23 2018
...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON
THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT...
* WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Plan on difficult travel
conditions. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 8 inches are
possible.
* WHERE...Portions of central, east central, south central and
southeast Minnesota.
* WHEN...Saturday afternoon through late Saturday night.
* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Significant reductions in visibility are
possible.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Winter Storm Watch means there is potential for significant
snow, sleet or ice accumulations that may impact travel. Continue
to monitor the latest forecasts.
The winter storm watch begins at 6 a.m. Saturday in southwestern Minnesota, and at noon Saturday in south-central Minnesota.
Updates
Updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you can read about any watches and warnings in the MPR News live weather blog.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation will post road condition updates.
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.