Rain in the Twin Cities, icy roads in western Minnesota

Here’s your Sunday evening forecast for December 24, 2023 from Minnesota’s Weather Authority and Meteorologist Matt Serwe.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect tonight through Monday (Christmas Day) for northern and western Minnesota. Travel could be tougher because of snow and ice.

The rain has arrived in the Twin Cities Sunday evening. Expect rain to continue through the rest of Sunday night for most of eastern Minnesota into northwest Wisconsin. Overnight, temperatures will drop across western and northern Minnesota, bringing freezing rain and ice into the forecast. West of a line from Worthington to Alexandria to Park Rapids, and north of a line from Park Rapids to Hibbing is where ice accumulations are possible early Christmas morning. This could be enough to make travel difficult to dangerous in parts of the state Monday morning.

If you are planning on driving across western or northern Minnesota on Christmas, make sure you watch 5 Eyewitness News Morning on Monday. Meteorologist Jonathan Yuhas will have the latest on where there is ice and snow, and where roads are rough from 4:30 – 7:00 AM.

There is a chance for some light snow accumulations just to the north and west of the ice. Only 1 to 3 inches of snow is possible along the Minnesota and Dakotas border, and possibly an inch or two up north. In eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, 1 to 2 inches of rain is likely through Tuesday morning. Temperatures start to fall on Tuesday, dropping into the upper 30s by the afternoon. Some snow could mix in with the rain Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday, but nothing will stick.

The rest of the week will be quiet and cooler. No travel issues coming back from any Christmas vacation you have planned. Highs fell into the 30s from Wednesday through the upcoming weekend.