Impressive Saturday snow totals in western Minn.; rain could cause flooding this week

The accumulating snow is over in the Twin Cities metro area, and we have blustery winds as we shovel and plow this Sunday morning.

This snow is much heavier than the light, fluffy snows that we saw last month. Here are some shoveling tips, from the NWS:

Snow continues to the northeast

Snow will continue in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin this morning and into Sunday afternoon.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Sunday morning through Sunday evening:

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of snow.

Here’s a summary, from the Duluth office of the National Weather Service:

As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you’ll also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

You can check the latest forecasts from the NWS offices in the Twin Cities,  Grand Forks, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., La Crosse, Wis., and Duluth.

Updated road conditions will be posted by the Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments.

Snow totals

Many observers take their snow measurements in the morning, so we'll continue to see a flow of snowstorm totals.  I measured 6.1 inches from our weekend storm in St. Paul.  Oak Grove, in Anoka county, reported 6.8 inches of new snow. The snow total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 4.7 inches.  St. Cloud reported 7.5 inches. Herman, which is in west-central Minnesota, came in with 15 inches of new snow. There were multiple reports of 12 inches or more of snow in western Minnesota.

You can check snow accumulations as they are posted by the National Weather Service. Hover over any data point on the National Weather Service snow map site to see the snow total and the time of observation.  Some locations have not updated since Saturday afternoon, so they do not reflect the storm totals.

Temperature trends

Sunday afternoon highs will be in the 20s across much of Minnesota, with some some spots in the east topping 30 degrees.

Monday highs will be in the 20s in most spots:

Our average high this time of year is 38 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area.

Metro area highs are projected to be in the upper 30s on Tuesday, followed by mid 40s Wednesday. We’re looking at highs in the lower 40s Thursday, then lower 30s on Friday.

Unwelcome rains

Rain is expected to arrive Tuesday afternoon, and we'll have extended periods of rain Wednesday into Thursday. The rain could change to snow in western Minnesota early Thursday and in eastern Minnesota late Thursday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern Tuesday afternoon through Thursday evening:

We could see one to two inches of rain this week, which could lead to some localized flooding.

The Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service mentioned potential flooding in their forecast discussion for this week:

The combination of 1-2" of rainfall along with dew points above

freezing and strong southerly winds during this system will likely

lead to localized street/urban flooding and small streams as well.

It would be wise to clear snow and ice from storm drains prior to

Wednesday if possible.

We'll keep you posted.

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.