Wednesday afternoon forecast

Here’s your Wednesday afternoon forecast for March 15, 2023 from KSTP Meteorologist Matt Serwe.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for the Twin Cities metro, southwest, central and northeast Minnesota, and parts of northwest Wisconsin. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for parts of northwest Wisconsin and the arrowhead of Minnesota. These start Thursday afternoon and continue through Friday morning.

Wednesday evening stays dry across most of Minnesota. There could be a couple of light rain and snow showers north of Brainerd, changing to all light snow showers overnight. When you wake up on Thursday, there should be some drizzle or light rain in eastern Minnesota, and steady snow already starting out west. Most of Thursday morning will be wet in the Twin Cities with temperatures falling into the mid and upper 30s. Around noon, the rain changes over to all slushy snow. That snow will fall steady to heavy at times through the afternoon and evening. Expect a very slow evening commute on Thursday. Accumulating snow comes to an end after midnight.

Snow totals will be trick with this system. A lot depends on how quickly the rain changes to snow, and if it is falling fast enough to accumulate on the warm, wet ground. There should be a stripe of 2 to 5 inches from southwest Minnesota through the Twin Cities into northwest Wisconsin. The forecast has a range for a reason: Where the ground is a little cooler or the snow is falling a little faster, those are the places that will get closer to 5 inches. Exactly where those cities will be is anyone’s guess. North and east of a Hinckley to Rice Lake line, 5 to 8 inches of snow is possible through Thursday night.

Plan for a very cold and windy St. Patrick’s Day. Clouds increase through the morning, and a few light snow showers or flurries are possible from time to time. Highs stay in the upper teens and low 20s, with wind chills below zero in the morning, and staying in the single digits through the afternoon. Flurries and light snow showers continue Saturday morning. Highs Saturday will be in the 20s once again. Warmer weather is ahead next week. By Tuesday and Wednesday, highs will be in the low to mid 40s. However, there is another rain and snow chance toward the end of next week.