A significant snowstorm for much of Minnesota is on tap for the weekend, starting late Friday. How much falls and where that falls is a little trickier according to WCCO-TV Chief Meteorologist Chris Shaffer. This is not going to be one of those "snowmageddon" weather events for most of Minnesota, but it is worth watching.
"I've been saying 3 to 6 inches all week long and that's the way it's shaping up, but you've also heard me beat the drum time and time again, I don't care if it's 1 inch or 9 inches, it's the effect that it has," Shaffer explains. "And it's gonna be slick and it is gonna be tough to get around even though the model numbers are coming into agreement now with the lesser amounts. That's why the National Weather Service went with the Winter Weather Advisory and did not up us to a Winter Storm Warning."
That advisory goes into effect at Midnight Friday with snow falling overnight and throughout much of Saturday. One of the reasons for the lesser warning is the timing, Shaffer says.
"First of all, it's happening on a Saturday. You don't have the volume of cars on the roads, people going to work," Shaffer told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News. "You don't have to worry about school cancellations or delays. The timing is good."
The other factor in play is the wind, or actually, the lack of wind.
"The wind is not going to be a player," Shaffer said Friday morning. "If it was yesterday's wind with the snow? We would have blizzard warnings. But we don't. The wind is going to be under 10 MPH pretty much across the state. So we won't have issues with blowing and drifting snow. The visibility won't be as bad, and it's a fluffier snow. It's not the wet, heavy one that sticks to your shovel when you get to the end of the driveway and try to toss it, you've got to scrape it off with your foot. It's pretty fluffy, not quite ideal mountain skier snow, but certainly on the lighter end."
Shaffer adds most of the snow will fall while you're sleeping overnight then slowly tapers from east to west throughout Saturday.
The bigger snow event takes place across western Minnesota however.
"Alexandria, we'll take you through St. Cloud, perhaps Cambridge, heading toward Ladysmith, Wisconsin, that's the area that could maybe see 4 to 7 inches with lesser amounts north of there and less amounts for the Twin Cities, maybe 2 to 3 inches," he said.
And as we've all seen many times in Minnesota, the snow is followed by the cold. Shaffer says this one is no different.
"Sunday's just cold, a high of 16, and then your highs are in the teens on Monday, maybe a high of 2 on Tuesday, and we will drop below 0," Shaffer predicts.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Joe Calderone also tells WCCO that this is a widespread system so most of the state will see at least a little white stuff.
"Most of the state, say from say from around the Brainerd area southward all the way to maybe the Mankato area, so that that's a pretty wide swath," says Calderone. "That large part of the state is likely going to see in excess of 4 inches and potentially in excess of 6 inches of snow."
* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations between 3 and 6 inches.
* WHERE...Portions of central, east central, south central, and southeast Minnesota and west central Wisconsin.
* WHEN...From midnight tonight to 6 PM Saturday.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions.