It's going to snow. A lot. It just may not be here.
A major snowstorm is bearing down on the Midwest but will mostly miss the Twin Cities. Then there's some of that old-fashioned, cold weather Minnesota is used to, says WCCO Chief Meteorologist Paul Douglas.
That doesn't mean the Twin Cities are getting missed entirely. Douglas does say there is a possibility we'll get between two and four inches of snow between Friday night and Saturday morning, and maybe about six inches by the end of the weekend.
But it's far less than the foot or more forecasted for the Quad Cities, Rockford, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago and other areas to the south and east. They're getting their first of two winter blasts later on Tuesday. A second, more powerful Blizzard is shaping up for Friday into Sunday for areas around the Great Lakes region.
"I think it's going to shutdown much of the Great Lakes, much of the Midwest this weekend," Douglas says. "The computer models print out crazy amounts of snow. 30 inches for Milwaukee and Chicago by Sunday morning. Even if they're off by an order of magnitude, it's still going to be a lot of snow."
Minnesota will be on the northern fringe of both of these storms.
"I think the best chance we have, here in the metro, of getting more snow, is Friday and Friday night," Douglas says. "Maybe two to four. Best chance of four southern suburbs, couple of inches northern metro. Powdery, perfect snow for cross-country skiing. My hunch, with what we have on the ground now, I think most spots will have three to five, maybe three to six, on the ground Sunday morning."
Anything south and east, Rochester to La Crosse, look for more than a foot as totals increase significantly. Douglas says he does not see the higher amounts this far north.
"We're getting a taste," says Douglas.
Then there is the cold. It'll be teens and 20s for the most part through Friday. Then a high of 13 on Saturday is the warmup (cooldown?) before Sunday and early next week.
"It's going on mid-January, it's supposed to get cold," Douglas says with 100% accuracy. "I think we'll have maybe three days in single digits for highs. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday the coldest spell. Three nights, possibly four nights, dipping below zero. Not twenty below cold but maybe five degree cold. You know, still numb but not quite as numb as it could be this time of year. We've seen worse."
SOUTHERN STORMS
Meanwhile, a sprawling winter storm hit the South with strong thunderstorms and tornado warnings that blew roofs off homes and tossed about furniture Tuesday and brought cities across the Midwest to a standstill with more than half a foot of snow, stranding people on highways.
The violent storm with 55 mph (88 kph) winds and hail moved through the Florida Panhandle and into parts of Alabama and Georgia by sunrise Tuesday, along with at least several reports of radar-confirmed tornadoes, the National Weather Service said. A wind gust of 106 mph (171 kph) was recorded before dawn near the coast in Walton County, Florida.
“We still have potentially strong storms in that area through (Tuesday) morning and the potential for more severe weather and tornadoes,” meteorologist Lance Franck in Tallahassee said.
MIDWESTERN BLIZZARD
In the Midwest, where a snowstorm started Monday, up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow could blanket a broad area stretching from southeastern Colorado all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, including western Kansas, eastern Nebraska, large parts of Iowa, northern Missouri and northwestern Illinois, said Bob Oravec, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.
From there, the storm was expected to head east, bringing a combination of snow, rain and strong winds to the Northeast by Tuesday night, as well as concerns about flooding in areas such as New England, parts of which got more than a foot of snow Sunday.
Nearly 8 inches (19 centimeters) of snow fell in the northern city of Athol, Kansas, on Monday. The weather service office in Lincoln, Nebraska, predicted an additional 3-5 inches (8-13 centimeters) was possible overnight, with winds possibly gusting as high as 40 mph (64 kph).
Whiteout conditions in central Nebraska closed a long stretch of Interstate 80, while Kansas closed Interstate 70 from the central city of Russell all the way west to the Colorado border due to dangerous travel conditions. Several vehicles slid off I-70 in the northeastern part of the state, authorities said.
In Nebraska, federal courts in Omaha and Lincoln closed Monday, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased the water flow at a Missouri River dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border near Yankton to reduce the chance of ice jams forming. Dubuque, on Iowa’s eastern border with Illinois, closed its city offices Tuesday. Schools in Cedar Rapids in eastern Iowa were among those also closing.
IOWA CAUCUS ISSUES
The weather has already affected campaigning for Iowa’s Jan. 15 precinct caucuses, where the snow is expected to be followed by frigid temperatures that could drift below zero degrees (minus 18 Celsius).
It forced former President Donald Trump’s campaign to cancel multiple appearances by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who had been scheduled to court Iowa voters on Trump’s behalf Monday.
FORECAST
Tuesday: Snow tapers throughout the day. Mostly cloudy, high 31, low 20.
Wednesday: A chance of more light snow, mainly after noon. Cloudy, high 28, low 17.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 21, low 10.
Friday: Snow comes in after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 22, low 6 with increasing winds up to 25 mph.
Saturday: More snow in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy, high near 13, low of -6 and still windy.
Sunday: Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 2. Overnight low of -9.