Winter storm brings snow to southern Minnesota; brutal cold follows

Updated 10:40 a.m.

A significant winter storm will continue to affect southern Minnesota Friday with more snow and increased wind by the afternoon. The system will pull in our coldest air of the season behind it. 

Winter storm dumps snow south, pulls in very cold air 

Snow will continue to spread across southern Minnesota Friday morning and afternoon. The snow will continue into Friday night and slowly wind down during the day Saturday.

Snowfall totals will be heaviest in southeastern Minnesota where more than 6 inches of snow will fall. Totals will drop off from there north and west. 

The trend in the forecast is for less snow for places like the Twin Cities so stay tuned through the day Friday.

Radar and satellite imagery Friday morning shows where the snow will really be setting up with this system in southern and southeast Minnesota into Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.

The track of the heaviest snowfall has shifted farther southeast as cold air has progressed farther than expected.

Below is a comparison of actual early morning temperatures Friday compared to what some models had forecasted on Thursday. The sweet spot of “not too cold and dry” versus “too warm” has shifted along with the tightest temperature gradient.

All models have trended downward. Here’s one such computer forecast for total snowfall that has updated at 6 a.m. Friday. It’s very possible the trend will continue downward.

In addition to the snow, winds will increase through the day Friday, causing significant blowing and drifting and reducing visibility, creating blizzard conditions in southwestern Minnesota. Travel is not advised in rural and open areas. 

Winter weather advisories and winter storm warnings are also posted for portions of northeast Minnesota into northwest Wisconsin.

Bitter cold, dangerous wind chills move in

The wind will be ushering in much colder air for the weekend. High temperatures Friday will range from near 20 in the east to just the single digits west.

We’ll see progressively colder temps through the weekend. Overnight lows will be subzero north and west Friday night and statewide by Saturday and Sunday nights.

High temperatures will struggle to get much above zero Sunday as well.

The winds will remain elevated, creating major wind chill factors for most of Minnesota. Wind chills early Saturday and Sunday mornings especially will be brutal in the range of 20 below to 40 below zero.

Temperatures will slowly rebound toward normal through next week but remain cooler than normal overall.