Updraft: March 3, 2013 Archive

'Large and potent' winter storm headed for Minnesota

Posted at 9:13 AM on March 3, 2013 by Mary Armstrong (5 Comments)

From MPR News weather editor Steve Nelson:

Our early March storm appears to be on track to dump a healthy amount of snow on parts of the state. Much of North Dakota and parts of northwestern Minnesota, including the Fargo Moorhead area, are under a winter storm warning that starts at 6 p.m. tonight. In addition, the winter storm watch has been expanded to include a bigger chunk of Minnesota, and the Arrowhead region is covered by a less extreme hazardous weather outlook.



The National Weather Service in Grand Forks calls this a "large and potent storm." It's also a slow moving system. In the northwestern portion of the state, the snow should start tonight and continue through late Monday or early Tuesday. From the NWS:

STORM TOTALS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES ARE FORECAST ACROSS THE WARNING AREA...WITH LOCALIZED HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE DUE TO STRONGER BANDS OF PERSISTENT SNOWFALL. AT THIS TIME THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED FROM THE CANDO AND DEVILS LAKE AREA TO GRAND FORKS...MAYVILLE AND FARGO/MOORHEAD TOWARDS WAHPETON AND FERGUS FALLS. AS THE STORM DEVELOPS A BETTER REFINEMENT OF WHERE THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE.

That uncertainty is making it a bit difficult to say just how much snow the Twin Cities will get. It's still unclear exactly what track the low pressure system will take as it moves to the south. In the metro, expect to see snow develop late tonight and continue through Tuesday. Six inches or more are possible in some areas that are covered by the watch. It could be a messy commute on Monday.

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Winter storm warning now includes Twin Cities

Posted at 1:00 PM on March 3, 2013 by Jon Gordon (0 Comments)

From MPR News weather editor Steve Nelson:

Parts of the metro could see between six and 10 inches of snow through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

A winter storm warning is in effect across much of Minnesota. Wind gusts up to 25 MPH could cause some blowing and drifting on Monday.

The National Weather Service says to expect two bands of precipitation:

THIS SNOWFALL LOOKS TO BE SPLIT UP INTO TWO WAVES OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW. THE FIRST WILL COME TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING...WITH A SECOND ROUND EXPECTED MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. SNOWFALL RATES ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE FOR A PERIOD MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING BETWEEN THESE TWO WAVES.

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Let's play two: winter storm will be a double header

Posted at 4:52 PM on March 3, 2013 by Jon Gordon (1 Comments)

From MPR News weather editor Steve Nelson:

In less than a month, the Minnesota Twins will open their regular season at Target Field. However, over the next 48 hours, the season of winter is the one Minnesotans will be keeping an eye on. We're scheduled for a snowy double header that could dump six to 10 inches in parts of the state including the Twin Cities. Here's how things are shaping up:

Source: National Weather Service

As you can see, a winter storm warning is posted for much of Minnesota. In the Twin Cities, it goes into effect at 9 p.m. tonight and runs through 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Snow has already started in the northwestern part of the state. Through the night, this first of two bands of snow will move to the east. In the metro area we should see snow overnight and into Monday morning. Then things may ease up a bit during the afternoon, with the second band expected to hit Monday night into Tuesday morning.

The slow moving storm will generally produce light to moderate snow, with occasional short periods of heavy snow, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Shawn DeVinny. "Six to 10 inches is a good bet for area we've outlined in our warning right now," he said.

A few isolated areas could see as much as 12 inches.

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