Snow And Ice Storm To Impact Southern Two-Thirds Of Minnesota Monday Into Tuesday
As we head into later Monday and Tuesday, we will be watching another major winter storm impacting areas of southern and central Minnesota up to the Duluth area.
- Monday afternoon: A few hour band of snow could impact portions of central Minnesota, with maybe an inch or two possible for areas like St. Cloud.
- Monday night: This is when the main part of the storm starts to impact central and southern Minnesota. In central Minnesota, precipitation would most likely be in the form of snow, with rates of 1" per hour possible in the heaviest snow. Across southern Minnesota - including the metro - temperatures aloft look to be warm enough to melt snowflakes into water droplets. With cooler temperatures at the surface, this means precipitation would be in the form of freezing rain, with a band of at least a tenth of an inch of ice possible from the south metro to the MN/IA border, with some locations down toward I-90 potentially seeing up to a half an inch of ice.
- Tuesday: Cooler air comes in aloft, changing precipitation back over to all snow across central and southern Minnesota. The snow band will start to reach as far north as Duluth. Snow could fall at a rate of 1-2" per hour.
I'm going to start with the icing side of the system, as these totals across southern Minnesota as far north as the metro have me concerned.
- Across these areas, at least a tenth of an inch of ice will be possible.
- Areas down across the southern two tiers of counties - including the Mankato and Rochester areas - could see at least a quarter to a half inch of ice.
- This will cause significant concerns across the region when it comes to potential power outages, travel and slick surfaces. Most of this is expected to fall Monday night.
A band of at least 6" of snow is expected to fall from southwestern Minnesota across central Minnesota, including the metro.
- The heaviest snow is expected out in western Minnesota (where icing is less likely to cut into snow totals). Out in those areas toward Redwood Falls, Montevideo, and Canby, up to a foot of snow will be possible.
- This snow will fall at a rate of 1-2" per hour at times, especially in the heavy snow band from Monday night into Tuesday, meaning keeping surfaces cleared of snow will be difficult.
- The good news is wind won't be as much of an issue vs. previous storms already this snow season, so while we could see some blowing snow it won't be a major concern.
Due to the expected wintry precipitation, Winter Storm Warnings and Ice Storm Warnings have been issued across central and southern Minnesota.
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Monday Across The State
Across the state, we'll watch that wintry precipitation start moving in across southern and central Minnesota during the day. Otherwise, quiet conditions are expected up north. Highs will range from the upper teens in far northwestern Minnesota to around 30F in southeastern Minnesota.
In the metro, we will watch that snow chance start in the afternoon hours, however, the greatest risk of wintry precipitation will be into the overnight hours. Morning temperatures start off in the upper teens with highs in the upper 20s.
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