12-20-18 Northern Plains: Tracking a few waves of light snow into Christmas… bigger winter storm looms next week. B.

Today’s Video: 

Good Thursday morning everyone! We still have a few snow showers working through far Eastern counties in Minnesota this morning: 

Here’s a look at these snow showers into the early afternoon hours. Can’t rule out a quick dusting in spots: 

We’ll need to watch tomorrow morning for a few areas of patchy dense fog in the Central Dakotas or some patchy freezing drizzle: 

The next wave of energy works in tomorrow afternoon with a mix of rain/snow at first in Western North Dakota. This will changeover to snow into Friday night in Eastern North Dakota into Northern Minnesota with snow showers lingering throughout Saturday and early Sunday. Temperatures in the 20s likely lead to high snow ratios and consistent snow accumulations. Right now we’re favoring the GFS model. Here’s a look at the GFS sim radar Friday – Sunday and it’s forecast accumulated snow: 

We’ll need to carefully watch a weak wave on Christmas Eve night and Christmas for some light snow, but the bigger storm system comes next Wednesday to Friday. Data is consistently showing the risk of a major winter storm. Here are the areas that are most favorable for winter weather risks late next week: 

Here’s a look at temperatures over the next 4 days: 

Here’s a look at wind gusts over the next 4 days: 

Here’s a look at precipitation over the next 5 days: 

Here’s a look at the city charts for Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, Bismarck and Fergus Falls for the next 10 days: 

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out via [email protected]! Have a great day!