6:06 PM Friday, February 7, 2025
Widespread winter weather alerts, warnings in pink, and advisories in purple stretch from Montana to parts of the Dakotas, into parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and lower Michigan with this next system.
-This morning’s model runs indicated a slight northward trend for the snow expected late tonight and Saturday. However, this afternoon, the computer models have shifted the snow slightly more to the south once again. The challenges of winter weather forecasting are indeed numerous.
-There likely will be a sharp cutoff to the snow on the northern side of this system, and where exactly that cutoff from snow to little to no snow sets up is still a bit uncertain as of late this afternoon. However, the most likely scenario is for that cutoff line to set up north of Duluth, probably up closer to the Hibbing area.
-This snow should be pretty light and fluffy once again, and we shouldn’t be dealing with strong winds after the snow stops Saturday afternoon like we did on Thursday, but wind gusts could still reach 15 to 20 mph at times Saturday afternoon and night, which may lead to patchy blowing snow.
-Temperatures in the teens and 20s during the day Saturday will drop to around 5 below to 15 below zero late Saturday night/early Sunday morning.
Here’s my updated snowfall forecast for late tonight through Saturday afternoon.
Duluth metro area: 2 to 3 inches of snow are possible by Saturday afternoon, with 3 to 5 inches of snow further south and lesser amounts of snow to the north.
For Duluth: Snow is forecast to begin later tonight between 11 PM and 1 AM. Snow through Saturday morning. Snow tapers off Saturday afternoon.
NAM 3km model simulated radar forecast through 7 PM Saturday.
Low temperature forecast for Saturday night/Sunday morning.
A fast-moving disturbance in the northern Rockies this afternoon will move east-southeast across the northern Plains and upper Midwest tonight and Saturday, bringing more accumulating snow to parts of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin later tonight into Saturday.
This system tonight isn’t particularly strong as we have a fairly weak area of low pressure over western Nebraska late this afternoon, and that low won’t be deepening at all over the next 24 hours. However, there is enough lift and moisture in this cold air mass to produce snow, and the cold column will lead to higher than usual snowfall ratios once again of around 15:1 to 19:1.
Snow is moving east from the Dakotas into west central Minnesota this afternoon.
There’s been reports of up to 6 inches of snow today near the North Dakota-South Dakota state line.
Radar loop ends 4:08 PM CT Friday, February 7, 2025.
Once again today we’re seeing a wide range in temperatures, with 70s and 80s across the southern U.S., even a few 90s in southwest Texas, and single digits and teens across the northern U.S.
A strong jet stream with winds over 120 knots separates warm air to the south from colder air to the north.
Early next week, a strong 1050 mb Arctic high starts to build southeast out of southwest Canada, which will lead to a few days of frigid temperatures in the Northland, as low temperatures are forecast to drop to the teens and 20s below zero next Monday through Wednesday night, with some 30s below possible up north. Note: Wind chill temperatures ranging from around 25 to 40 below zero are also possible in much of the Northland early next week.
Thanks for reading!
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