Winter storm to impact area with rain, freezing rain, sleet, ice, and snow

The winter storm has moved in and will bring in a bag of mixed precipitation today, mainly rain chances Wednesday and snow showers by Thursday, leading to travel impacts and business/school closures likely at times.

Today will start with a mix of precipitation across southern Minnesota from rain to snow with a mix of both in the middle. Temperatures through the morning hours will hover from the low to mid-30s, which is why precipitation will be mixed from rain to freezing rain to snow across the area. Areas west of Mankato are looking at the wintery mix to snow while areas east of Mankato will be dealing with cloudy skies before rain moves in through the late morning hours. Temperatures through the afternoon hours will hover in the mid-30s which is why we are looking mainly at rain, however, due to temperatures so close to freezing, a mix of sleet and rain are still possible this afternoon in/around Mankato. By the late afternoon hours and early evening hours precipitation will range north to south vs east to west. This means that areas parallel to Mankato may see more of a wintery mix, while areas south of Mankato are looking mostly at rain and areas north of Mankato are looking more at snow. This will continue into the overnight hours before precipitation starts to fizzle out for a bit, becoming more spotty/isolated around the area while temperatures hover in the mid-30s overnight.

Tomorrow will be the quieter day of the week with the winter storm system. Wednesday we will see less precipitation chances with more spotty/isolated to patchy showers for most of the area as temperatures are projected to hover in the mid to upper-30s through the afternoon hours. We will see periods of dry conditions on and off throughout the day before more light showers return late Wednesday night before transitioning into snow showers after midnight as temperatures dip into the low-30s by Thursday morning.

Thursday will remain cloudy with snow showers in the area as temperatures are projected to hover in the low-30s. Temperatures will gradually drop into the upper teens and low-20s by Friday morning as snow showers continue overnight. By midnight (12 AM Friday) we are looking at 1 to 3 inches of snow across the area.

Friday will follow the cloudy trend with scattered snow showers continuing around the area. Temperatures will hover in the low-20s through the afternoon hours before dropping into the mid-teens overnight into Saturday morning. Snow totals should remain rather light by Friday night.

This weekend we will start to see the winter storm fully move out of the area with a chance for some flurries lingering on Saturday and possibly on Sunday. The cold front associated with the winter storm will have also moved through by the weekend which means temperatures will be much colder through the weekend and next week. Highs this weekend will hover in the mid to upper-teens with winds up to 15 mph and mostly cloudy skies. Overnight temperatures will dip into the single digits.

Next week will be on the more frigid side leading into Christmas Weekend. Monday through Thursday of next week will remain on the cloudy side with highs hovering in the single digits without the wind chill. Winds are projected to return up to 20 mph with occasional gusts up to 30 mph at times. This means the wind chill values will likely hover in the negatives. Temperatures overnight next week will likely range in the negatives without the wind chill. We are also watching for another chance for snow showers by the middle to end of next week.

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