Winter storm to impact area starting Tuesday

A winter storm watch has been issued ahead of a winter storm associated with strong low pressure system with a strong cold front will bring in a bag of mixed precipitation from rain to freezing rain to snow to the area starting Tuesday morning.

Monday will be the quietest day of the week despite a breeze, patchy fog and cloudy skies. Patchy fog will be prominent through the morning hours around southern Minnesota and northern Iowa before becoming more patchy by the afternoon hours. Temperatures will start in the upper-20s and low-30s before hovering in the low to mid-30s through the afternoon hours with winds up to 20 mph and gusts up to 30 at times. Tonight will remain cloudy with patchy fog returning to portions of the area as a wintery mix of freezing rain and snow move into west, southwestern Minnesota after 4 am as temperatures hover in the low-30s overnight.

Tuesday will be the first messy day of the week. A wintery mix is likely to move into the Mankato area between 6 am and 8 am as temperatures hover in the low-30s through the morning hours. Temperatures will hover in the mid-30s through the afternoon hours with winds up to 20 mph and gusts up to 40 mph at times. Due to temperatures hovering in the mid-30s, which is relatively close to the freezing mark of 32 degrees, and strong winds in the area, we are looking at a wintery mix of rain, freezing rain at times, and snow. Temperatures will continue to hover in the low to mid-30s overnight which means we are likely to continue to see a wintery mix of freezing rain and snow overnight into Wednesday morning. By 12 am Wednesday, we are looking at a range of a quarter of an inch up to three quarters of an inch of precipitation.

Wednesday will remain messy with scattered rain showers through the afternoon hours due to temperatures hovering in the mid to upper-30s. Winds will remain breezy up to 15 mph through the day. Rain showers will gradually become mixed with freezing rain and snow as temperatures gradually drop through the evening hours. The wintery mix will eventually transition into snow showers overnight into Thursday morning as temperatures hover in the upper-20s with winds remaining breezy.

Once the mixed precipitation transitions into snow by Thursday morning, temperatures will remain under 32 degrees for the remainder of the extended forecast due to the cold front moving through the area with the low pressure system. This means we are looking at snow showers remaining snow until the system passes and precipitation chances come to a close.

Snow showers will continue throughout Thursday with temperatures hovering in the low 30s through the early afternoon hours before dropping into the 20s by the late afternoon/early evening hours. Winds will remain strong up to 20 mph, which could lead to reduced visibility from blowing snow around the area. Snow will continue into Friday morning as temperatures dip into the low-20s overnight.

Thursday’s low in the low-20s will be the high for Friday. This means temperatures are projected to steadily drop through the day on Friday as scattered snow showers continue on and off through the day. Winds will continue to range up to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Snow showers will start to wrap up overnight Friday into Saturday with flurries continuing as temperatures drop into the single digits and low teens.

The cold front that will move through the area with this winter storm will be rather strong. Saturday and Sunday will both remain cloudy with flurries possible throughout the day on Saturday. Temperatures by the weekend will be rather bitter and frigid at times with highs in the low to mid-teens with winds remaining breezy up to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph at times. Overnight temperatures will be in the negatives starting Sunday night into Monday morning.

Early next week will remain rather bitter and cloudy with breezy winds sticking around. Temperatures will hover in the single digits through the afternoon hours Monday through Wednesday. Winds will remain breezy up to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph at times. With breezy winds and bitter temperatures, it is likely we will see wind chill values remain in the negatives through the afternoon hours next week. Temperatures overnight will hover between -1 and -5 Monday night through Wednesday night.

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