Weather Blog for Duluth and the Northland

5:07 PM Monday, December 23, 2024

A complex weather system, characterized by multiple low-pressure systems tracking north and east into the upper Midwest, is expected later this week.

High temperatures are likely to climb above freezing in Duluth from midweek into early next week, with even the overnight temperatures remaining near or slightly above freezing this weekend.

It appears that there will be little to no new snow in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin for at least the next seven days.

Precipitation is expected later in the week, generally from Friday afternoon or evening into Saturday. However, with warmer temperatures in place, most of the precipitation will likely fall as rain, with no threat of freezing rain (icing) as it currently appears.

Rainfall totals of approximately one-tenth to one-quarter inch are possible in much of the Northland later this week, with locally higher amounts possible along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Fog will likely be an issue occasionally for the rest of this week and into this weekend, and some of this fog could become dense at times, with visibilities of less than a mile.

Fog could become more widespread later in the week as snowmelt occurs, coupled with the possibility of rain, which would add even more moisture to the air.

HRRR model visibility forecast through 6 PM Tuesday with the darker colored areas representing visibility of <1 mile.

Today, we have observed two areas of concern.

To the west of our region in North Dakota, there has been widespread dense fog with visibilities reduced to a quarter of a mile. Additionally, to our southeast, there has been snow and mixed precipitation affecting parts of southern and eastern Wisconsin into Michigan.

A trough over the Great Lakes has been generating precipitation today, while lighter winds near a ridge and moisture trapped in the atmosphere have led to fog development over North Dakota.

Here’s a look at today’s system crossing Wisconsin on Goes-16 water vapor imagery with the loop time ending at 3:50 PM CT Monday, December 23, 2024.