Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Light snow south Wednesday; a better snow chance Friday

Heaviest snow Friday favors areas east of the Twin Cities into Wisconsin

Snowfall projection
Snowfall projection through Wednesday night
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Fine misty snow crystals have fallen at the Weather Lab in the southwestern Twin Cities Wednesday. We’re riding the northern edge of a system that’s producing heavy snow across much of Iowa, southern Wisconsin, and northern Illinois.

On the map below, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s FV3 model shows lighter snow bands favoring southeastern Minnesota through Wednesday evening.

NOAA FV3 model
Finite­-Volume Cubed-Sphere Dynamical Core model Wednesday between 3 p.m. and 11:59 p.m.
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

Accumulations will be light across most of southeastern Minnesota. (See the map above.)

Heavier snowfall covers most of Iowa Wednesday.

Friday snow chance

Thursday brings another day of arctic sunshine. Highs will be in the single digits above zero once again.

Our next snow chance arrives Friday. Forecast models suggest this system’s moisture feed will come together right over the Twin Cities.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the system snow zone increasing almost overhead Friday afternoon:

NOAA GFS model
Global Forecast System model between 6 a.m. Friday and midnight Saturday
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

That means the heaviest snows should fall to the east and into Wisconsin, with lesser totals west of the Twin Cities.

Snowfall projection 2
Snowfall projection through Friday
NOAA

There’s still plenty of time for changes in snowfall forecast as the system evolves.

Stay tuned.