Two waves of snow into Tuesday; serious subzero shot arrives Thursday

This week reminds us why Minnesota winters are not to be taken lightly.

Two separate waves of snow blow through Minnesota in the next 24 hours. The first targets northern Minnesota. A solid band of snow with embedded moderate to heavy snow cores dumps widespread 4 to 8-inch snowfall totals across the northeast half of Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.

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URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Duluth MN

245 PM CST Mon Jan 21 2019

...WIDESPREAD SNOW THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING...

A low-pressure system will move through the region through

Tuesday evening and will bring widespread snow to the Northland.

The heaviest snow is expected to fall overnight and early Tuesday

morning mainly from the Pine River to the Twin Ports to Ashland

north to Grand Portage to Ely to Northome. Total snow accumulation

of 3 to 7 inches is expected. Snow will continue during the

Tuesday morning commute over much of the area, and Tuesday

evening in northwest Wisconsin.

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Wave No. 2 Tuesday

The second wave targets the southeast half of Minnesota Tuesday. Light snow and some freezing drizzle develop overnight. The heaviest snow will fall across southeast Minnesota Tuesday. The Twin Cities will see snow of varying intensity Tuesday, with the heaviest totals favoring the southeast metro.

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NOAA GFS snowfall totals via pivotal weather.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NAM 3 km model seems to do a decent job with this somewhat complicated two-phase system. The first bands layout over northeast Minnesota. Tuesday snow may be patchy and intermittent with some breaks at times in the Twin Cities.

The northwest metro may see the last snow, with just an inch or two in some areas.

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NOAA NAM 3 km resolution model through Tuesday via tropical tidbits.

Winter storm warnings are up through Tuesday for southeast Minnesota.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service La Crosse WI

301 PM CST Mon Jan 21 2019

...Accumulating Snow Tuesday...

.Snow accumulations of 5 to 7 inches are expected Tuesday for

locations south of Interstate 90. Amounts of 3 to 6 inches should

occur along and north of Interstate 90. Most of the snow will fall

from mid-morning Tuesday into the evening.

A period of light freezing drizzle will be possible tonight for

portions of southeast Minnesota into northeast Iowa. The threat

for the freezing drizzle will continue Tuesday across portions of

northeast Iowa into far southwest Wisconsin. A light glazing of

ice will be possible.

Roads are expected to become snow covered creating difficult to

hazardous driving conditions. The Tuesday evening commute will be

impacted by these conditions. Plan now for these travel impacts.

Season's coldest air arrives Thursday

The strongest arctic front so far this winter blows through Minnesota Thursday. Temperatures bottom out between minus 30 and minus 40 in northern Minnesota Friday morning. The Twin Cities and southern Minnesota will likely bottom out between minus 12 and minus 20 Friday morning.

With winds gusting to over 40 mph blowing snow will be an issue in western Minnesota. Wind chills hit the dangerous range by Thursday night.

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