Oh, snow! Northern Minnesota gets taste of winter with first flakes

As the Twin Cities becomes a mosaic of fall colors, northern Minnesota got a touch of what's to come — snow.

While parts of Duluth saw a few flakes fall Friday morning, an inch of snow fell in Togo, Minn., located about 40 miles north of Hibbing, according to Bill Leatham, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth. A few other northern Minnesota areas also saw snow Friday morning, with less than an inch falling in Orr, Embarrass and Chisholm and a trace of it near Ely.

Snow in October may feel like a rude awakening to some, but it's not unusual for those in northern Minnesota. Duluth gets about 2.3 inches of snow on average for the month, Leatham said. Duluth saw its earliest snow — 2.4 inches — on Sept. 18, 1991.

In the Twin Cities, frost, not snow, is in the forecast. A frost advisory from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. is in effect for the metro area north of Hennepin County, said Tony Zaleski, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. Temperatures in Minneapolis and St. Paul will fall into the lower 30s and into the upper 20s in the suburbs, he said.

In the Twin Cities, the average low is 43, making temperatures Friday and Saturday a little chillier than normal. Daytime temperatures in the 50s also fell short of the average high of 63.

"We're getting a real taste of fall now," Zaleski said. "On Monday, we'll zoom up to near 70s."

And Duluth will warm up to temperatures in the 60s.

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788