Brandon Weatherz: Active weather continues through Friday
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Our Wednesday is gloomy with areas of fog persisting through the day. Allow time to drive slowly with the poor visibility, and be sure to have the headlights on. The wet stretch continues with more rain today, tonight and tomorrow. All said and done, additional rain accumulations of 1.5” to 2.5” are possible for much of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin. Excessive rain may lead to localized flooding.
A Winter Storm Watch is still on track from 6 am Thursday to 6 am Saturday for northern Minnesota generally north of Duluth and away from the North Shore. Travel here may become difficult on Thursday as rain turns to snow from the northwest through the day. The transition may include periods of freezing rain and ice accumulation.
By the Friday morning commute, snow accumulation of several inches may already be on the ground over much of northern Minnesota, and light accumulations should begin in the Twin Ports and across northwest Wisconsin. Another factor impacting travel will be a strong wind shifting from northeast on Thursday to northwest on Friday with gusts around 40 mph. This, along with potentially heavy snow, could bring times of very poor visibility.
Snow will come to an end for much of Minnesota by Friday night. The South Shore of Lake Superior will then take the focus for additional snow accumulation through the day Saturday. The greatest accumulations will be along and north of a line from near Bemidji to Big Fork to Orr with a widespread 6-10” possible. Amounts drop off going southeast of there with a line from Grand Rapids to Virginia to Ely on the edge of 3” potential. Amounts drop to around an inch for the Twin Ports and North Shore. Less than an inch is expected at the bottom of the hill near Lake Superior. The South Shore snow belts will receive a widespread 3-6” with higher amounts locally.
Today: Cloudy with persistent fog and occasional rain. High 47. E wind 5-10 mph. Chance of rain: 90%
Our Wednesday is wet with temps in the mid-40s. Winds ramp up tonight and remain strong tomorrow as rain begins to turn to snow for northern areas.
Tonight: Steady rain with winds picking up. Low 40. NE wind 10-20 mph. Chance of rain: 100%
Tomorrow: Wet and windy. High 43. NE wind 15-25 mph G 40. Chance of rain: 90%
Friday: Cloudy and breezy with scattered snow showers. High 32. NW wind 10-20 mph. Chance of snow: 50%
Saturday: Partly sunny and breezy. High 28. N wind 10-15 mph.
Sunday: Partly sunny. High 28. N wind 5-10 mph.
Monday: Mostly cloudy. High 30. S wind 5-10 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy with a slight chance for snow. High 31. W wind 5-10 mph. Chance of snow: 20%