First Winter Storm Timeline

KMSP - Here comes our first winter storm… so what can we expect?  Well, that will vary greatly on location.  For the general metro, we’ll start off Friday with some off and on rain showers and temperatures somewhere in the 40s.  But it’s all downhill from there as winds drastically pick up after sunrise; whip around out of the northwest and temperatures plummet into the low to mid 30s by lunchtime.  This will send wind chills into the 20s and will also begin to switch our rain showers over to snow.  Areas of snow and blowing snow in the afternoon as temperatures hover near freezing with winds gusting upwards of 40 mph.  Any and all precipitation should by done by 7pm but I would anticipate a SLOW evening commute.  Overall accumulation in the metro will be considered minor HOWEVER, it is the first storm of the year and a slushy, sloppy, and eventually icy mess can be expected… so despite the lackluster totals (generally an inch or so, maybe 2 inches on the northwest side) travel will likely be greatly impacted.

Statewide though, the heavy snow stays to the northwest of the metro with a swath of 5 to 10” of snow from west central Minnesota into the North Country where local amounts could top a foot.  Combine that with the 40+mph gusts and blizzard or near blizzard conditions can be expected in these areas much of Friday.

While only some of us will get the heavy snow, all of us will get the wicked cold as wind chills drop into the teens and single digits Friday night and early Saturday.  Winds will slowly calm through the day Saturday but temperatures may not even make it above freezing for a lot of locations.  Welcome back to more normal November weather!