March is sure going out like a lion. It began with rain on Thursday which continued overnight leading to very slippery conditions across central Minnesota Friday morning.
WCCO Chief Meteorologist Paul Douglas joined Vineeta on the Morning News Friday to talk about what the rest of Friday looks like, and yes it includes several inches of fresh snow as we limp into April.
Icy Conditions Friday Morning
It was pretty bad to start the day across much of central Minnesota.
“Rain freezing on contact with cold surfaces, creating these ice skating rink conditions, glaze ice and I don't care what you're driving unless you're driving a tank, nothing is going to help on glaze ice,” said Douglas. “Reports of a tenth of an inch of glaze ice and that's why there's a winter storm warning in effect for much of central and southern Minnesota.”
There are even blizzard warnings as you head out towards Wilmer, Windom, Marshall, much of southwestern Minnesota because this icy mix is going to change over to snow later this afternoon Douglas said.
Thunderstorms? Yes, Thunderstorms.
You may have heard some rumbles overnight. We may get more.
“Even in the metro, we expect rain during the day today, a few more thunderstorms possible,” says Douglas. “Although most of the storms staying south. It was a reminder that spring is coming but some pea-size hail with some of those storms. And, yeah, booming thunder woke me up at 2:00 a.m. Thank you very much, Mother Nature.”
Douglas says that some of the storms could be severe over far southeastern Minnesota which is under a slight threat of severe storms. There’s even a significant tornado threat in eastern Iowa into northwestern Illinois.
Friday night the snow moves in
The wet and stormy weather gives way to winter again Friday night.
“A change over to snow tonight. I think it's going to three to six inches,” Douglas is predicting for the metro area. “The models are predicting more, but the models have been high. A little too rich for much of the winter. For a number of reasons, I don't think we're going to get 10 inches for most of us.”
The only exception could be south metro, south of Saint Paul, Woodbury, Apple Valley, Lakeville, towards Rosemont, Hastings, Red Wing and Northfield Douglas said.
“I could see some eight to ten inch amounts there. The model is pretty consistent keeping a snowy bullseye over the south eastern suburbs,” says Douglas. “But for most of us, I think we're going to be in that three to six inch range tonight. Tapering by breakfast time Saturday and it's going to be real heavy wet, slushy, gloppy heart attack snow.”
Douglas says that because most of the snow is coming at night, it won’t melt as quickly.
“If it was snowing during the day, I think most of it would melt on contact with the high sun angle,” he says. “But because it's going to be snowing after dark, temperatures go below freezing about 9:00, 10:00 tonight.
And then the snow will start to stick even on the freeways downtown. I think there will be some accumulation. We will wake up to some plowable amounts of snow.”
The “Good News” and “Bad News”
We’ll start with the good. By Saturday afternoon and Sunday, we should be in the upper forties to near 50 with some leftover drizzle.
“The good news, it will be dry, sunny and cool for the Twins home opener next Thursday,” Douglas says. “I think it will be in the thirties. So definitely chilly. It's going to be brisk but nothing falling from the sky next Thursday. And the models have us up in the fifties by mid-April. So not as fast as many of us would like, but it is going to start to feel like spring. Give it about 10 days. I think we'll see fairly consistent fifties. Get through these next couple of days and then the middle of next week too, and then we'll be in the home stretch. Better days ahead.”
Now the bad.
“Another major storm shaping up Tuesday, Wednesday of next week,” warns Douglas. “I think it will be mostly rain in the metro though. Maybe ending as a couple inches of snow at the tail end of the system on Wednesday. It could be a full blown blizzard for northwestern Minnesota. An ice storm for Duluth. So no, we're not out of the woods just yet.”
Forecast
Friday: Rain. 3-6+ inches of slushy snow tonight. High 40 with winds out of the NE 15-25 mph.
Saturday: Flurries ending with clearing skies. High 37, low 23.
Sunday: Milder with some drizzle. High 49, low 25, and breezy with wind SW 10-20 mph.
Monday: Mostly cloudy and dry. High 45, low 32.
Tuesday: High wind, rain, ice and snow mix. High 38, low 34 with wind E 20-40 mph.
Wednesday: Very windy with blowing snow. High 37, low 25 and wind NW 20-40 mph.
Thursday: Sunny and very brisk for the Twins Opener. High 39, low 20.
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