Winter Weather

Winter Weather Watch: Snow and Cold For Upper Midwest

Tom Niziol Published: Dec 7, 2012, 3:04 PM EST weather.com

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Winter Weather Update

 

Welcome to the weather.com Winter Watch page.  Here, we will detail the latest winter weather threats, spelled out in the graphic above and the winter weather summary write-up below, updated by Winter Weather Expert Tom Niziol (Twitter | Facebook), Sr. Meteorologist Tom Moore, and our Global Forecast Center meteorologists.
In our threat graphic on this page, we depict three levels of risk:

• "Aware":  These areas should be aware of potentially impactful winter weather ahead.
• "Alert":   These areas should be on alert for impacts to road and air travel.
• "Action":  Prepare for major travel disruptions, as well as school & business closings.

Latest Winter Weather Summary

- Northern Plains Through Upper Midwest
Weak system cuts across eastern South Dakota through Southern Minnesota Friday bringing a quick 1 to 3 inches of snow to the area. Another more significant system brings a swath of heavier snowfall followed by strong winds from portions of the eastern Dakotas to Minnesota Saturday through Sunday. Winter Storm Watches are up for areas including metro Minneapolis/St. Paul.  Snow will begin in those areas Saturday night and continue through early Sunday.  Later Sunday, stronger winds will compound the impacts from this winter system. Parts of Minnesota will see as much as 8 to 12 inches of snow before the system moves east Monday.
- Central To Southern Rockies
Significant snows for the higher elevations of the Colorado Rockies Saturday through Sunday with 6 to 12 inches likely. A strong cold front cuts through Denver and the Front Range Saturday night through Sunday morning bringing rapidly falling temperatures and a bust of snowfall to the area.  At this time it look as though snowfall will be less than 4 inches for the immediate metro Denver. It is lucky that this occurs on Sunday morning vs. Monday, since that combination will result in very slippery conditions on area roads during the day Sunday.  At this time this does not look like a major snow event for Denver. However temperatures will drop from the mid 40s Saturday afternoon to 10 to 15 by Sunday morning.  Higher elevation snow also will occur Sunday across northern New Mexico from Taos to Sante Fe.
- Pacific Northwest Through Northern Rockies
Snow continues through Saturday morning with levels down to 2000-2500 ft. Another 6 to 12 foot inches likely from Washington Cascades through the Northern Rockies.  Major Interstates such as I-90 through Snoqualmie Pass will see significant impacts from these systems.  As large scale ridge builds across the Pacific Northwest Saturday, most of the snowfall will end for the weekend.
- Upper Great Lakes
Weak system moves through Wisconsin and northern Illinois tonight bringing an inch or so to the region including metro Chicago. Late tonight through early Saturday that system cuts across Michigan bringing 2 to 3 inches to the area.
- New England
Wintry mix this afternoon through Saturday.  Subtle freezing rain event likely, especially for the valleys of Interior New England Saturday morning and again Saturday night. No significant snowfall expected.