Winter Storm on the Move

Winter is making a quick return to Montana, the Dakotas, the Upper Mississippi Valley and western Great Lakes this weekend. The on-going snow drought could get wiped away in a few spots.

The cold temperatures are already in place with bits of moisture riding along a weak and diffuse stationary front. This is bringing light snow to the eastern Dakotas, Minnesota, northern Iowa, and western Wisconsin. While an inch or less is possible, the bigger story is what`s coming down the pike this weekend.

A low pressure system in British Columbia will scoot south and east this weekend before forming a larger low pressure center in the eastern Great Lakes by Sunday night.

Snow will develop Saturday across Montana and the Dakotas, before spreading into Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan late at night into Sunday. As the storm winds up into Canada, snow will taper off early Monday morning.

Winter Storm Warnings, Watches, and Winter Weather Advisories are in place from the Idaho Panhandle, across Montana and the Dakotas, and eastward to western Wisconsin. This includes Great Falls and Miles City, Mont., Duluth and Minneapolis, Minn., Eau Claire and Wausau, Wisc., and Aberdeen, S.D.

Three-to-6 inches of snow are expected across the northern tier of Idaho and through central Montana. Three-to-4 inches of snow are possible in North and South Dakota, with 6 inches possible in the Twin Cities, to as much as a foot in Minnesota`s Arrowhead before the weekend is finished. Snow will make travel along Interstate 90, 94 and 35 slippery this weekend.

The winter storm will likely be the biggest one of the season so far but that`s not saying much. Duluth, Minn., has only picked up a trace of snow this month, and only 10 inches of snow in November. The heaviest accumulation from one single storm so far this season was 3.3 inches on Thanksgiving Day. Minneapolis has seen far less with 0.8 inch of accumulation since November 1, compared to an average of 10 inches.

Following the snow, a blast of below average temperatures will spill into the northern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley. Highs will only climb into the teens to middle 20s for the start of the work week. Temperatures look to moderate back to slightly above average by the middle of next week.