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Crow Wing and Cass counties are in the heart of a winter storm watch from Tuesday-Thursday, Dec. 13-15, with a possibility of 6-plus inches of wet and heavy snow.
From 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Friday, the highest snowfall amounts — where the probability is 70% or greater — are expected from the Brainerd lakes area east-northeast through the Twin Ports and the North Shore, according to the National Weather Service in Duluth.
The probability of greater than 6 inches or more of snowfall remains high, the weather service said.
The weather service called it a complex, slow-moving, mixed precipitation storm. A mix of rain or freezing rain mixing in could affect snow totals..
Timing
The heaviest precipitation is expected to fall Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, with the Wednesday morning commute likely to be very difficult, the weather service said.
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A wintry mix of rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow is predicted to arrive from south to north Tuesday afternoon/evening.
The wintry mix is forecast to change to heavy snow in northeast Minnesota on Tuesday night into Wednesday.
The precipitation should become all snow Wednesday night, with off and on snow lingering into Thursday and Friday.
Gusty winds out of the southeast to east upward of 40mph Tuesday night through Wednesday are possible.
Heavy snowfall rates combine with the strong winds Tuesday night into Wednesday may lead to near white conditions at times, the weather service warned.
Also, snow loading on limbs and power lines combined with windy conditions may lead to power outages.
Forecast
- Tuesday: Snow likely before 3 p.m., then snow likely, possibly mixed with rain, freezing rain and sleet. Cloudy, with a high near 34. Breezy, with a southeast wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
- Tuesday night: Snow, possibly mixed with freezing rain and sleet, becoming all snow after 9 p.m. Low around 29. Breezy, with an east wind around 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
- Wednesday: Snow likely, mainly before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 35. Breezy, with an east wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
- Wednesday night: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. Breezy, with a northeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Thursday: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 33. North wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
- Thursday night: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19. North wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
- Friday: A slight chance of snow before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 25. Blustery, with a northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
