6:00 PM Thursday, February 27, 2025
Winds are expected to pick up starting late tonight and continue into Friday as a strong low-pressure system moves through far northern Minnesota early Friday and reaches northern lower Michigan by late Friday afternoon.
Winds of 20 to 35 mph will affect much of the Northland from early Friday morning to about mid-afternoon, with gusts possibly reaching 40 to 50 mph in some areas.
HRRR model wind gust forecast valid from Midnight tonight to 6 PM Friday.
Snow in far northeast Minnesota
A clipper bringing windy conditions to much of Northland on Friday will also cause moderate to heavy snow early Friday morning in far northeast Minnesota, particularly northeast of a line from Ely to Silver Bay. Snowfall rates may reach 0.5 to 1″/hour for a few hours, especially in the tip of the Minnesota Arrowhead.
Here’s my updated snowfall forecast for this system.
Notes
-The 1 to 3 inch zone in northwest Wisconsin occurs mainly late Friday afternoon into Friday night.
-Other parts of the Northland could see a trace to half inch of snow through Friday evening.
NAM 3km model simulated radar forecast through Midnight Friday night.
Low pressure of about 995mb over eastern Saskatchewan this afternoon is expected to deepen to around 988mb as it moves southeast to northern Lower Michigan by late Friday afternoon. Most of the snow from this system will fall near and north of the yellow line that shows the storm track.
This clipper system will have a large temperature gradient to feed off of, with subzero temperatures farther north in parts of Manitoba and Ontario today, while 50s and 60s covered parts of the northern Rockies and northern Plains.
Temperatures will start out mild on Friday with 30s and even some 40s in the Northland, but strong cold air advection will kick in during the day, dropping the temperatures into the 20s during the afternoon.
Subzero temperatures are expected Friday night in northern Minnesota, with highs Saturday in the teens and 20s, but this cold air will be short-lived as milder air returns already starting on Sunday.
Spring Storm Next Week
We could see quite a storm spin up across the southern/central Plains early next week, with this low forecast to track east-northeast, reaching central/eastern Illinois around Wednesday morning. This system appears to be taking the southern route once again, which should limit the amount of precipitation (rain/snow) we see in the Northland from next Monday to Wednesday. I’ll repeat myself here: a major winter storm does not look likely at this time in the Northland next week.
Thanks for reading!