Widespread accumulating snow Monday-Tuesday, ground blizzard possible Thursday

By Joe Nelson | January 20, 2019

UPDATED SNOWFALL FORECAST ISSUED AT 10 A.M.

Here's the latest snowfall forecast from 6 a.m. Monday through all day Tuesday, according to the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service.

Original story

Two waves of snow are forecast to move through Minnesota Monday night and Tuesday and as luck would have it, the Twin Cities might miss out on the bulk of both.

It'll likely snow in the metro, but the heavier amounts are currently forecast to be northwest and southeast of the Twin Cities. Yes, somehow, the metro area has tucked itself between two areas that could each be on the receiving end of 4-6 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

That said, the Twin Cities should pick up a couple of inches. Here's a look at the future simulated radar for Monday-Tuesday.

We'll have to fine tune snowfall amounts later Sunday or Monday morning when the NWS has a better gauge on it, but right now it looks like a couple of inches in the Twin Cities, 3-6 in places like St. Cloud and Duluth, and 3-6 to the southeast in Red Wing, Rochester and Winona.

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Ground blizzard on Thursday?

The light snow will be ready and waiting to blow around and cause a possible ground blizzard on Thursday as an Arctic cold front moves through and brings the coldest air of the winter and strong northwest winds. Gusts up to 40 mph could cause significant blowing snow. Travel could become dangerous, perhaps impossible in some areas.

The rest of January looks to be pretty cold, with the Arctic airmass planning to stick around for a while.