A popular meme on social media hit around mid-week this week.
Winter: And another thing!
Spring: Ok, I’m …
Winter: I’m not DONE!
After a week of ups and downs, including snowfall on Wednesday, March 21, the first day of spring (meteorologically), a Winter Storm Watch has been issued for Wright County as a weather system is expected to hit the area Friday and linger until Saturday.
Fear not, though. Spring appears it will finally win next week, as there is rain in the forecast on Tuesday, then highs near 50 on Wednesday and into Thursday. Easter Sunday should be sunny (mostly) with highs just above 40.
Until then, we have about 4 to 8 inches of snow in that forecast for parts of Wright County. Probably just a couple of inches of snow/slush will fall near St. Michael and Otsego.
Here’s the storm watch from the National Weather Service:
.WINTER STORM WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING… * WHAT…HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW POSSIBLE. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO 9 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE, WITH THE LIGHTEST AMOUNTS ALONG I-94. * WHERE…PORTIONS OF CENTRAL, EAST CENTRAL, SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA. * WHEN…FROM FRIDAY EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS…PLAN ON DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS. WINDS GUSTING AS HIGH AS 35 MPH COULD CAUSE PATCHY BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW, SLEET OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.
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…WINTER STORM WATCH HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO A WARNING ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA WITH ADDITIONAL COUNTIES LIKELY BEING ADDED THIS EVENING… …VERY SHARP SNOWFALL GRADIENT STILL EXPECTED TO SET UP NEAR SAINT CLOUD…THE TWIN CITIES…AND RED WING… .A WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA WITH A WATCH REMAINING ELSEWHERE SOUTHWEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY MORNING. THE MAIN FORECAST CONCERN REMAINS WHERE THE SHARP GRADIENT OF SNOWFALL TOTALS SETS UP ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF THIS WINTER STORM. LITTLE HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST 24 HOURS WITH THE BEST POTENTIAL OF THIS SETTING UP THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, BUT ENOUGH UNCERTAINTY REMAINS SO THE WINTER STORM WATCH WILL CONTINUE UNTIL WE HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHERE THIS GRADIENT SETS UP. SNOW WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE DAKOTAS LATE TONIGHT AND BUILD EASTWARD INTO WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA LATE FRIDAY MORNING, REACHING EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA LATE FRIDAY EVENING. THERE MAY BE A BRIEF PERIOD OF RAIN OR SLEET, BUT IT IS EXPECTED TO TURN TO HEAVY SNOW QUICKLY AS TEMPERATURES COOL TO NEAR FREEZING. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL RANGE FROM 6 TO 10 INCHES ACROSS WESTERN AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA. AS MENTIONED BEFORE, THERE WILL BE A SHARP GRADIENT IN AMOUNTS NEAR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, WITH POSSIBLY LITTLE OR NO SNOW NORTHEAST OF THERE. ANY SHIFT WOULD LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT FORECAST CHANGES NEAR THIS GRADIENT, INCLUDING IN THE TWIN CITIES METRO.