Regional weather view.
A very complex and extreamlly active weather situation taking place in the Upper Midwest this weekend. One storm has passed and now a secondary storm is expected on the heels of this one. The low pressure location will pass over Eastern Iowa bringing the threat for significant snows in Iowa, Southeast Minnesota and Wisconsin. After a brief cool down early next week, the weather will turn mild and spring like, as warm will pushes back into the region. Temperatures region wide in the 30s, 40s and 50s for multiple constructive days in a row.
Local and Metro views.
Significant snowstorm tonight
2 models the GFS and European continue to come together on a significant winter storm impacting our area tonight with heavy snow lasting into the 1st part of Monday The GFS model shows a wave of heavy snow developing in central Iowa and pushing north Sunday afternoon into the early morning hours of Monday. The snow will be very heavy at times hindering travel conditions. Accumulations will be highly dependent on where you live. The farther south and east you are the more snow you will see. It shows the heaviest accumulations in Southeast parts of the area. Winona, Preston, Austin will all see totals ranging from 7-10″ Central parts of that area, Dodge Center, Rochester and Wabasha will all see totals ranging from 4-7″ with generally 2-4″ or less in the far northwest. The cut off in snow totals will be very sharp. Snow type will be a wet slushy snow because of mild temperatures near freezing. This is still a developing storm and there is a bit of a failure rate with it. If the track were to shift southeast at least minute there would be significantly less snowfall, but for right now everything will be kept current.
Spring-like warm up by end of next week.
Models still continue to show a nice warm up this week but it keeps getting pushed back because of the close proximity of the jet stream. After the passing of the Winter Storm Sunday weather will remain cloudy to partly sunny through Tuesday. Highs these days will be in the low 30s. Wednesday a high pressure system will move in bringing Clearing skies and sunny conditions. With sunny skies Wednesday and light winds we can expect highs in the mid 30s and lows in the upper 10s. Thursday and Friday is when the real warm mild air will begin to move in and the feel of spring will be in the air.. Skies will range from being more cloudy to more sunny at times, but temperature regardless of the sun or clouds will be in the upper 30s to low 40s both days with lows in the mid 20s.
Sunday, Cooler and cloudy. Snow developing in the afternoon, snow will be very heavy at times. Highs in the lower 30s. Sunday Night, Snowstorm, snow could be very heavy at times. Windy with northwest winds to 30MPH Potential accumulation 7-10″ far southeast, 4-7″ central areas and 2-4″ or less northwest areas. See map. Lows in the mid 10s.
Monday, Cloudy with snow in the morning. Skies clearing to partly sunny in the afternoon. Highs in th upper 20s to low 30s. Monday Night, Increasing clouds, lows in the low to mid 20s.
Tuesday, Mostly Cloudy, light winds, highs in the low 30s. Tuesday Night, Partly Cloudy skies lows in the low to mid 20s
Wednesday, Sunny skies, light winds, highs in the mid 30s. Wednesday Night, Partly Cloudy with lows in the low 20s
Thursday, Seasonable Mostly sunny with light winds and highs in the upper 30s to lower 40s. Thursday Night, Partly Cloudy skies with lows in the mid 20s
Friday, Seasonable, increasing clouds, highs in the upper 30s to low 40s. Friday Night. Mostly cloudy with lows in the upper 20s.
Looking Ahead-Updated
Note: The long term forecast has a high failure rate and is very changeable at this time of year due to the transition of seasons. It can show one thing one day and change completely the next. Today the model shows next weekend being rather cloudy and cooler with a chance of light rain or snow Saturday. Sunday looks cloudy and cooler highs maybe near 30. Early the next week of Monday the 18th looks to start off on the cool side, with a significant warm up by midweek Wednesday and Thursday the 20th and 21st looks sunny and mild with a chance at 50s. This