Moderate to heavy snow will continue across parts of the Northland through early this evening.
Winds will be strongest near Lake Superior with northeast gusts to around 30 mph. The combination of falling and blowing snow will lead to whiteout or near whiteout conditions in the Twin Ports area and other areas along the North and South Shore of Lake Superior through early this evening.
Source: https://www.spc.noaa.gov
Source: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/
Winter storm warning in pink; Winter weather advisory in purple. These winter weather headlines remain in effect through Midnight tonight.
Link to road conditions
Minnesota — https://lb.511mn.org//mnlb/winterdriving/routeselect.jsf
Wisconsin — https://511wi.gov/map
Updated my snowfall forecast based on radar trends and snowfall reports that I’ve seen through late this Wednesday morning with widespread 5 to around 8 inch snow totals so far in the Twin Cities Metro area, and 2 to 5 inch totals so far across southern portions of the Northland, from Brainerd toward Moose Lake and Webster.
•Should see widespread totals of 5 to 8 inches of snow across east-central Minnesota, all of northwest Wisconsin, and for Duluth, Two Harbors and Silver Bay by later this evening. Note: Isolated totals of 8″+ are possible.
•1 to 3 inches of snow in far northern Minnesota (International Falls area)
•3 to 5 inches of snow in between the 5-8 and 1-3 inch zones.
Source: https://weather.cod.edu
Goes-16 Lower level water vapor satellite loop from Wednesday, February 20, 2019 (ending around 12:30 PM)
A very dynamic winter storm impacting the Upper Midwest and western Great Lakes today.
Source: https://weather.cod.edu
Goes-16 infrared satellite loop from Wednesday, February 20, 2019 (ending around 12:30 PM)
A strong mid/upper level trough which has become negatively tilted with bands of moderate to heavy snowfall lifting north-northwest through west-central Wisconsin and east-central Minnesota early this afternoon due to the strong forcing associated with the trough.
Source: https://weathermodels.com
12z NAM-WRF model 2-20-19
•Snow will continue to fall through the afternoon across northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.
•Snow will taper off from SW-NE tonight. Ending in southern areas this evening, and later tonight across northern areas.
Note: Snow is expected to taper off in the Duluth-Superior area between 9-11 PM tonight.
Outlook for Duluth and Superior
…Winter Storm Warning continues until Midnight tonight…
Rest of this afternoon: Snow and blowing snow (Near whiteout conditions possible) Temperatures around 20 degrees. East to northeast wind 15 to 30 mph.
This evening: Snow continues, but tapering off between 9-11 PM. Total snowfall accumulations of 5 to 8 inches. Northeast wind 15 to 25 mph early, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph by late evening. Blowing snow continues this evening.
Tim