5:48 PM Monday, April 14, 2025
Light rain, snow, and drizzle will persist in parts of the Northland tonight as a low-pressure system located northeast of Lake Superior continues to influence the weather.
Blustery northwest winds will persist tonight and into Tuesday on the rear side of this system, with gusts ranging from 15 to 30 mph and reaching up to 45 mph. The strongest wind speeds are anticipated along the North Shore of Lake Superior through-morning on Tuesday.
Peak Wind Gusts through 4 PM today.
Duluth Airport: 45 mph
Ashland, WI: 45 mph
Hibbing, MN: 41 mph
Brainerd, MN: 37 mph
International Falls, MN: 35 mph
Quite the system affecting the upper Great Lakes region today.
Goes-16 water vapor loop ending 5:10 PM CT Monday, April 14, 2025.
Within the cold pocket of this upper-level system (500mb temperatures dropping to -30°C) scattered showers and low-topped thunderstorms have tracked southeastward across the Dakotas, southwestern Minnesota, northern Nebraska, and western Iowa today. Strong wind gusts exceeding 50 mph have been reported in some storms this afternoon.
Radar loop ends 5:32 PM CT Monday, April 14, 2025.
This time of the year, even if 850mb temperatures are colder than 0°C, precipitation may still take the form of rain rather than snow, as it depends on what the near-surface temperature is when precipitation is falling.
There’s plenty of cold air available aloft for snow today in the Northland, with 850mb temperatures around -3 to -6C; yet, a lot of the precipitation that has fallen today has been in the form of light rain or drizzle, with any snow confined to far northern Minnesota and the Arrowhead.
The low-level temperatures, which remain above freezing across most of the Northland except at the Grand Marais Airport, have resulted in liquid precipitation rather than frozen precipitation for the majority of the area.
Temperatures today range from the mid-30s to mid-40s in the region.
NAM 3km model simulated radar forecast through 7 AM Tuesday.
Rain – green
Snow – blue
Portions of far northeastern Minnesota (Arrowhead region) may experience an additional tenth of an inch of precipitation tonight, while northern Wisconsin (South Shore area) could receive up to a quarter of an inch.
In other areas of the Northland including in Duluth precipitation amounts will remain minimal, generally less than a tenth of an inch tonight.
Regarding snow totals, with the reduction of daytime heating, some slushy snow accumulation is expected tonight in northeastern Minnesota and far northern Wisconsin, away from the immediate vicinity of Lake Superior.
Snow accumulations ranging from a trace to 2 inches are expected tonight in far northeast Minnesota and far northern Wisconsin.
Note: No snow is expected in Duluth tonight.
A break in precipitation is expected on Tuesday and Wednesday before the next system affects the Northland later this week, mainly from Thursday into early Friday morning.
This system will divide into two segments, with one traveling along the northern route across the northern Plains and upper Midwest, while another portion of energy moves further south into the southern Rockies later this week. The second segment of energy may eventually progress northeastward from the southern Plains around Sunday or Monday, potentially bringing precipitation back to parts of the Northland during that period.
There appears to be some instability (CAPE) associated with Thursday’s system, which could result in scattered thunderstorm activity in parts of the Upper Midwest, including here in the Northland. However, severe weather is not anticipated at this time.
Shown below is the lightning density forecast from the Euro model valid 7 AM Thursday to 1 AM Friday.
Thanks for reading!