Twin Cities, central Minnesota in bull’s-eye for heavy weekend snow

After January closed with record-breaking warmth, the other shoe is about to drop.

A windy Thursday will usher in much colder air, setting the stage for the biggest snowfall of the season Friday night into Saturday for the metro and much of central Minnesota, the National Weather Service said.

As much as 5 to 8 inches of snow could fall along a line from Granite Falls to the Twin Cities, prompting the Weather Service to issue its first winter storm watch for the metro this year.

“Expect disruptions to daily life,” the Weather Service said. “Closures and disruptions to infrastructure may occur.”

The watch is in effect from late Friday through Saturday afternoon from Morris to Willmar to the metro and south to Rochester, Mankato and La Crosse, Wis.

The metro’s largest storm of the season so far was just over 5 inches on Dec. 19, but the Weather Service has “medium to high confidence” that 6 inches or more of snow pile up along and south of the I-94 corridor.

Models give a 70% to 90% chance of 4 inches or more falling along the same area.

“This is one of the best signals we’ve had all winter for a wide swath of accumulating snow,” the Weather Service said.

A light burst of overnight snow turned roads slick and likely was a factor in a crash involving a semitrailer truck that had the eastbound lanes of I-94 partially blocked in Maple Grove for the early Thursday morning rush hour, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.

A Maple Grove police officer who responded to the crash before the State Patrol arrived was struck from behind by a passing motorist, said Lt. Michael Lee of the State Patrol.

The officer was transported to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale with non-life threatening injuries, Lee said.

The lanes near Brockton Lane reopened about 6:30 a.m. but not before traffic stacked up for miles behind the incident, Minnesota Department of Transportation cameras showed.

“Slow down and use extra caution on your morning commute,” MnDOT warned

Snow will begin in western Minnesota on Friday evening and reach the eastern part of the state by Saturday morning. Precipitation is expected to taper off by Saturday evening, the Weather Service said.

Ahead of the storm, a wind advisory is in place Thursday until 6 p.m. as wind gusts could reach as high as 45 to 50 miles per hour, the Weather Service said.

A fresh snowpack and arctic air moving in behind the storm will send windchill readings into the teens below zero Saturday night and set the stage for a frigid start to next week.

As temperatures sink into the low teens for highs Sunday and Monday with lows at or below zero, there are signs that spring is really on the way.

The darkest three-month period of the year is behind us as February marks the beginning of solar spring, the part of the year with the most rapid light gain, the Weather Service said.

The Twin Cities will see 70 minutes of more daylight by the end of the month, according to Accuweather.