Issued at 10:48 PM CST, Friday, December 24th, 2010
Tonight through Saturday Night:
The majority of Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin will be mainly dry, but scattered snow flurries cannot be ruled out here and there. High pressure off to our northwest will result in a northerly flow which will cause occasional lake effect snow showers along the South Shore of Lake Superior, affecting mainly Bayfield, Ashland, and Iron counties, although some of this activity could spread west and affect portions of Douglas county. Snowfall accumulations through Saturday Night will range from 1 to as much as 3″. Low temperatures Tonight and Saturday Night will be in the single digits below to above zero with a few teens in spots that stay rather cloudy. High temperatures Tomorrow will be in the teens and 20s. Northerly winds under 20 mph can be expected through Saturday Night.
Extended Forecast:
A threat for scattered South Shore lake effect snow showers will continue for Sunday and Sunday Night, the rest of our area will remain generally dry as high pressure builds into the Upper Midwest. Dry weather is then expected for early next week (Monday-Tuesday) high temperatures will generally be in the teens and 20s for Sunday and Monday with lows Sunday Night ranging from around 10 below to 10 above zero. Lows Monday Night will be in the single digits below to around 10 above zero.
By the middle of next week an area of low pressure is expected to pass northeast through the Northern Plains/Southern Canada. This system looks fairly weak at the moment, but could be enough to bring some snow showers or flurries to parts of Northern Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin around Wednesday of next week.
The big storm for Near Years continues to show up on recent GFS and EURO model runs, although there are differences with the track, timing, and intensity of this system which will have huge impacts on our area. The GFS model (00z and 06z run) from This Morning shifted the low farther south/east, giving most of our local area a memorable (possible EPIC) blizzard for late next week. The 12z and 18z GFS runs later Today have trended farther west/north with the surface low once again which would result in snow turning to a mix of precipitation which could range from freezing rain to sleet or even some rain. The EURO model is showing a faster moving storm system with enough warm air surging north to result in either a mixture of precip or even plain old rain. Nothing is certain this far out in time, but the potential does exist for a major storm sometime during the Thursday-Saturday time frame (December 30th-January 1st) Anything from a strong winter storm/blizzard, to a messy mix of precip, or perhaps even an ice storm does exist across our local area based on the latest model trends.
Tim
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