Weather Blog for Duluth and the Northland

Today’s system is moving in this morning, but the northern reach of the accumulating snow remains uncertain, which isn’t surprising given how the computer models have struggled with this setup over the past few days.

I’ll likely make some adjustments to my snowfall forecast before noon today, though it’s unclear how significant they’ll be.

Snow is falling this morning across western and southwestern Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas, but drier air moving in is already slowing its progress northeast. It’ll be interesting to see how far into the Northland it gets as the day goes on, with computer models still unsure about its reach later this afternoon and evening.

Note: I think we’ll start seeing some snow in Duluth between 10 AM and 1 PM today. Before that, expect some patchy drizzle or freezing drizzle.

Radar loop ends 6:52 AM CT Sunday, December 28, 2025.

Winter weather alerts are still in place for all of northern Wisconsin and parts of east central Minnesota, including the North Shore.

Early this morning, we can see the push of colder air out west, with temperatures ranging from 31 in Duluth to 12 in Bemidji, and farther west, we have subzero temperatures in western North Dakota.

Cold air will slowly move east throughout the day, with temperatures in Duluth dropping to about 20 degrees by 6 PM.

At the surface, there’s a low pressure of 999mb (29.50 inches) near Kansas City, which is expected to rapidly deepen as it moves northeast, passing close to Chicago, IL this afternoon and reaching Lake Huron by early Monday morning, with central pressure forecasted to drop to around 980mb (28.94 inches).

Meanwhile, a strong Arctic high of 1036 mb, or 30.59 inches, blankets the northern Rockies early this morning.

The pressure gradient between this low and high will tighten considerably today, and that, coupled with strong cold air advection, will lead to gusty north to northwest winds in the Northland this afternoon through Monday.

At the mid-levels, there’s a strong low and trough pushing south-southeast across the northern Plains, with 12-hour 500mb height drops hitting 90 meters early this morning.