Brandon Weatherz: Snow and winds linger as storm winds down

Our Friday morning commute features snow, ice, and frozen slush on many roads. Winds gusting up to 35 mph will create times of blowing snow, but much of the region gets a break from active wintry weather. The exception is Douglas and Bayfield Co. where a stubborn band of terrain induced snow set up overnight, bringing localized accumulation. Weather headlines have been allowed to expire for many communities, including South St. Louis County where additional snow of around an inch is possible today and tonight.

Central and North St. Louis, Lake, and Cook Co. are no longer in a Winter Storm Warning, but a Winter Weather Advisory continues until 1 am Saturday. Additional snow here will range from 1-2” for the Iron Range and along the North Shore to 3-6” for northern Lake and Cook Co. A Winter Storm Warning continues for Douglas and Bayfield County until 1 am Saturday where additional snow of 2-5” will be widespread. Localized accumulation of 4-10” is possible for northern parts of both counties due to terrain and lake enhanced snow. The greatest accumulation still to fall will be in parts of Ashland and Iron County where a Winter Storm Warning continues until 7 am Saturday. Additional snow here will be up to 13” locally.

Snow showers will gradually move south of the Canadian border to across northern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin through the day, reaching the Twin Ports in the afternoon bringing light additional accumulation for much of the Northland and slick conditions for the evening commute. These may include snow squalls, bringing a quick burst of heavy snowfall rates. Terrain and lake induced snow is all that lingers for the South Shore tonight into Saturday morning, gradually tapering off. After this, we can enjoy a quiet weekend for travel plans.

Highs today stay a good 15 degrees below average ranging from mid-teens to low 20s. We fall to single digits and low teens tonight, then Saturday remains cool with highs in the mid-20s. Saturday night into Sunday morning features single digits, with the typical cool spots dipping a bit below zero under clear skies. Sunday is then comfortable and sunny with highs back in mid-30s.