Sigificant cooldown with snow and wind tonight and Thursday, Some could be breifly heavy with arctic air settles in Thursday. Updated X1

Regional weather view.

A significant change is in store for the Upper Midwest. It will go from a very mild pattern to way more winter-like for the middle part of this week. A storm system will impact the region Wednesday and bring snow, and it has the chance to bring significant snowfall to areas shaded in orange along with strong winds. The models show a low pressure system developing remaining stationary and even moving west before moving out. Arctic Air will follow behind this storm system putting everyone in a deep freeze for the end of this week.

Local and Metro views

Note: Changes have been made, I’ve uped snowfall amounts for central areas and expanded the 2-4″ totals west slightly as the model continues to show a westward shift.

Winter is about to make a strong come back to our area as Significantly colder air arrives will start to arrive this evening with snow, some briefly heavy along with strong gusty winds. Snow will start tonight and continue into Thursday as a strong low pressure spreads precip westward. One wave will come with the of the front, which will deliverer around an inch of snow. There may be a brief break in the snow before more snow develops from that stronger system passing to our east.

Snow Accumulations

Right now it looks like with 2-4″ will accumulate for the eastern areas like Winona and Preston which is where the most will fall out of this system. Further west between 1-3″ will fall in Rochester and Red Wing. Farthest west 1-2″ will fall. There will be some blowing and drifting with this as winds will be strong out of the northwest. One thing sure is significantly colder air will arrive and be settled in by Thursday, highs will struggle to get out of the low 10s for highs and lows will fall into the lower single digits, this real cold weather will last through Friday. Then It will warm up slightly for the weekend

Wednesday, Cooler, Increasing clouds, and increasing winds in the evening. Snow developing towards nightfall, some could briefly be heavy at times. Highs in the upper 30s Wednesday Night, Windy and cold, Snow, some could be briefly moderate or heavy. with lows in the mid 10s

Thursday, Cold! Windy with cold wind chills and blowing and drifting snow. Light to moderate snow through the day. Total snow accumulations 1-4″ entire area. Highs in the mid 10s. Thursday Night, Clear and cold with lows in the mid single digits.

Friday, Chilly but not as breezy. Cloudy with highs in the mid 10s. Friday Night, Mostly cloudy with lows in the upper single digits.

Looking Ahead

The big story in the looking ahead forecasting, is the much more seasonable temps with multiple chances at snow systems the model shows coming in starting the 18th lasting through the last week of January. Could this be the start of a much cooler and snowier pattern for the Upper Midwest? Only time will tell.