Fog, then periods of rain Sat. night into Christmas Day; wintry mix/snow in some areas
Dense fog advisory continues in some areas
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Updated 11:20 a.m.
Our Saturday morning fog will linger into Saturday afternoon in many locations.
A dense fog advisory runs to 1 p.m. Saturday in most of the areas that are shaded grey on the following map, with later end times in northeastern Minnesota:
The dense fog advisory continues until 9 p.m. Saturday in Carlton and St. Louis counties of northeastern Minnesota and until 7 a.m. Sunday in Lake County and Cook County:
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Here are dense fog advisory details for St. Louis County and Carlton County:
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Duluth MN 1051 AM CST Sat Dec 23 2023 MNZ019-037-240300- /O.EXT.KDLH.FG.Y.0028.000000T0000Z-231224T0300Z/ Central St. Louis-Carlton and South St. Louis- Including the cities of Duluth and Hibbing 1051 AM CST Sat Dec 23 2023 ...DENSE FOG ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Visibility one quarter mile or less in dense fog. * WHERE...Carlton and South and Central St. Louis Counties. This includes the Tribal Lands of the Fond du Lac Band and the Bois Forte Band, Lake Vermilion area. * WHEN...Until 9 PM CST this evening. * IMPACTS...Low visibility could make driving conditions hazardous. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... If driving, slow down, use your low-beam headlights and fog lights, and leave plenty of distance ahead of you.
You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network.
Temperature trends
The average Twin Cities high temperature is 26 degrees on Dec. 23. Metro area highs are expected to reach the upper 40s Saturday afternoon.
Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will see Saturday highs in the 40s, but far northwestern Minnesota could have some upper 30s, and a few spots in the south could top 50 degrees.
Sunday highs will range from 30s in northwestern Minnesota to 50s in the Twin Cities metro area, southern Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin:
The record Twin Cities high temp for Dec. 24 is 46 degrees. That’s likely to be broken this year.
High temperatures on Christmas Day will range from upper 20s in far northwestern Minnesota to 40s in the Twin Cities metro area plus south-central and southeastern Minnesota:
West-central Wisconsin could see some lower 50s.
In case you’re wondering, the Twin Cities record high temp for Dec. 25 is 51 degrees, set in 1922.
Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 40s on Tuesday, followed by upper 30s Wednesday then lower 30s Thursday and Friday.
Holiday weekend rain for many areas, mix or snow in some locations
Patchy drizzle is possible Saturday afternoon. A low pressure system will spread rain showers into parts of southwestern Minnesota by late Saturday afternoon.
Rain coverage expands to cover more of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin as we go through Saturday evening and the overnight hours.
Many locations will see periods of rain Sunday and Sunday night. Northwestern Minnesota could see a wintry mix of rain/patchy freezing rain and light snow on Sunday. It’s expected to be mainly rain in northeastern Minnesota Sunday, but they could see a wintry mix Sunday night. Parts of west-central Minnesota could see a wintry mix Sunday afternoon and Sunday night, then some snow accumulation by Monday morning.
It’s expected to be mainly rain in the Twin Cities metro area and south-central and southeastern Minnesota, plus western Wisconsin on Monday. There could be periods of a rain/snow mix or wet snow from southwestern and west-central Minnesota up into portions of northeastern Minnesota.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from 5 p.m. Saturday through 5 p.m. Monday:
NOAA’s Finite Volume Cubed Sphere (FV3) model shows a somewhat similar precipitation pattern for that time period:
Several forecast models show between 1.5 inches and 2.5 inches of precipitation for much of Minnesota and parts of western Wisconsin from Saturday night through Monday afternoon. Precipitation includes rainfall plus the water content of any snowfall.
Updated forecast info will be posted by the NWS offices in the Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Sioux Falls and Grand Forks.
Weather nugget
The Twin Cities snow depth (at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) was 10 inches on Christmas morning last year. It was zero on Christmas morning of 2021.
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.