Snow coming Tuesday and again late on Wednesday

Icy sidewalks and driveways linger Tuesday morning. Now snow is headed our way to cover it. Walking remains dangerous and the incoming snow will disguise what lingers.

Advancing snow

Snowfall has advanced into southwestern Minnesota this morning. Radar has been tracking it across the Marshall-Redwood Falls-Olivia area.

The area of snowfall should expand as it tracks east-northeast toward the Twin Cities and then blossoms across Wisconsin.

Winter weather advisories

Winter weather advisories have been posted for Tuesday into Tuesday night for central and southeastern Minnesota and then nearly all of Wisconsin.

Most locations in Minnesota and western Wisconsin within the advisory are likely to pick up around 3 to 4 inches of snow in total.

The times of the advisories vary by location based on the expected progress of the snowfall.

The advisory is posted from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. Tuesday for the Twin Cities area. Snowfall should begin by late morning and continue through the afternoon and well into the evening. Something around 3 inches should fall by late afternoon to create a messy evening commute with about another inch expected in the evening.

Snowfall should begin later in southeastern Minnesota. The winter weather advisory for the Rochester area is posted from 3 p.m. Tuesday until midnight.

High temperatures Tuesday should range from 5 to 10 degrees in the north and west to around 20 in southeastern Minnesota. The Twin Cities should have a high around 13 with a northeast wind of just 5-10 mph.

Stronger weather system coming our way late Wednesday

Milder temperature are on tap for Wednesday. But there will be a price to pay as they will be ahead of another snowmaker. While this one is unlikely to produce heavy snow, it will be a rather prolonged event from Wednesday evening through Thursday. Persistent light snow should pile up over just about all of Minnesota during that time. Shovelable and plowable amounts are very likely.

Here is an outlook of expected snowfalls for the two upcoming events. Note that the forecast amounts for Wednesday-Thursday should be considered preliminary.

Dangerous cold Thursday night into Saturday

A brisk northwest wind behind that next storm will blow in some frigid Canadian air and cause dangerous wind chills Thursday night.

Winds should diminish gradually on Friday. But look for mostly subzero high temperatures just about statewide that afternoon. The Twin Cities might just break above zero courtesy of the urban heat island.

The coldest morning temperatures will arrive on Saturday. Widespread morning lows in the negative teens and 20s are likely.

Thermal relief

Moderating temperatures will come our way on Sunday and especially on Monday and Tuesday.