Photo shows snow totals from the evening of Thursday, March 12 to the morning of Friday, March 13. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Heavy snowfall was reported in the northern part of the region while the Twin Cities was hit with a wintry mix that didn't amount to much accumulation.
READ MORE: MN weather: Weekend will bring heavy snow to parts of Minnesota
Snow totals across Minnesota, Wisconsin
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MN weather: Gusty winds, afternoon sunshine Friday
Morning gusty winds will gradually improve, along with a break in the clouds for some afternoon sunshine. The attention then shifts to an incoming winter storm this weekend. FOX 9 meteorologist Cody Matz has the forecast.
Minnesota snow totals:
A blizzard warning is in place for much of northern Minnesota until 1 p.m. on Friday.
According to the National Weather, the warning represents "an extraordinary threat to life or property in Southern Lake/North Shore, Southern Cook/North Shore County, Carlton/South St. Louis Counties."
Here's how much snow fell from late Thursday into early Friday morning across Minnesota:
- Fond Du Lac: 11 inches
- Duluth: 9.3 inches
- Duquette: 9 inches
- Holyoke: 8.8 inches
- Lester Park: 8 inches
- Tamarack: 8 inches
- Moose Lake: 8 inches
- Angora: 7 inches
- Embarrass: 7 inches
- Two Harbors: 7 inches
- Wright: 6.1 inches
- Pontoria: 5.9 inches
- Taft: 5.8 inches
- Kabetogama: 5.8 inches
- Grand Marais: 5.5 inches
- Floodwood: 5.5 inches
- Duxbury: 5.3 inches
- Friesland: 5 inches
- Gowan: 5 inches
- Westbury: 5 inches
- Orr: 4.6 inches
- Menahga: 4.5 inches
- Payne: 4.3 inches
- Bemidji: 4 inches
- Chisolm: 3.8 inches
- Casino: 3.8 inches
- Leonidas: 3.5 inches
- Baxter: 3 inches
Wisconsin snow totals
Wisconsin snow totals:
Much of Wisconsin is also under a winter storm watch, which is set to remain in place until 1 p.m. Friday.
The counties under a "significant threat to property or life" include Dodge County, Mower County, Houston County, Fillmore County, Olmsted County, Wabasha County, Winona County, Buffalo County, according to the National Weather Service.
The following snow totals were reported for Wisconsin on the morning of Friday, March 13:
- Washburn: 10 inches
- Moquah: 8.5 inches
- Tomahawk: 8 inches
- Wausau: 7.6 inches
- Hurley: 7.2 inches
- Ashland: 7.1 inches
- Westboro: 7 inches
- Herbster: 7 inches
- Cornucopia: 7 inches
- Butternut: 6.5 inches
- Sarona: 6 inches
- Seeley: 5.5 inches
- Bayfield: 5.4 inches
- Cedar: 4.6 inches
- Dorchester: 4.6 inches
- Superior: 3.3 inches
- Park Falls: 3 inches
Winter storm warning this weekend
Winter storm warning issued.
What's next:
The snow will likely fly once again in Minnesota this weekend, but it certainly won't be for everyone.
A large piece of mid- and upper-level energy, that actually originated in Russia a couple days ago, will dive into the Upper Midwest on Saturday.
This will allow an area of low pressure to develop in a fairly traditional location to bring heavy snow to the Upper Midwest, traveling from eastern Colorado to parts of Iowa and Wisconsin. In these cases, moisture is pulled northward from the Gulf, interacts with the colder air north of the low pressure center, and spreads a narrow swath of snow from west to east.
Local perspective:
Interestingly, like every other storm system we get, it's all about location. The track of this storm is far from certain, with the exact phasing of the upper-level energy with the low-level spin and Gulf moisture is critical to the overall placement of the heavy snow band.
This is March "tournament snow"... in other words, big snow possibilities that will vary greatly county by county.
At this point, the areas in the winter storm watch and warning areas should prepare for heavy snow and difficult travel conditions as the storm unfolds late Saturday night into Sunday afternoon. It needs to be said that with a spring snow event there is tremendous uncertainty about the exact storm track, so it can be next to impossible to nail down exact snow totals up until a few hours of the onset of the storm.
Dig deeper:
All of that said, this is a scenario that often brings double-digit totals in the heaviest band of snow. For the moment, the highest likelihood for those numbers will be toward southeast Minnesota and across southwest Wisconsin.
However, pockets of heavy snow are possible for the greater Twin Cities as the storm intensifies early Sunday morning.
We will keep you updated with the very latest as this unfolds through the weekend.
Stay with FOX 9 for updates and download the FOX 9 Weather app for location-based alerts.
The Source: This story uses information from the FOX weather forecast and the National Weather Service.