First Winter Storm Watch Of The Season Issued For Parts Of Minnesota, Wisconsin
This news has people who lived through the Halloween Blizzard of '91 reliving their memories.
We've been following a chance of snow for Halloween as the week has progressed, and the snowfall totals have been ticking upward for parts of Northern Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin.
With the pending snow now just about a day away, the National Weather Service has now issued a winter storm watch as the ingredients seem to be coming together for the first shovelable snow of the season.
What area is impacted by this winter storm watch?
The head of the lake area around Lake Superior is the target for this impending snow event. The watch is for portions of Lake and St. Louis County, Carlton, Pine, and Aitkin Counties in Minnesota along with Douglas and Bayfield Counties in Wisconsin.
How much snow are we going to get?
Early-season snow events are tricky to forecast. With temperatures near freezing, a couple of degrees difference in the temperature can be all the difference between some rain and a lot of snow.
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While there are some weather models that are suggesting wild snowfall totals upwards of 1 to 2 feet of snow in an area from around Moose Lake northward through the higher elevations along Lake Superior and also along the South Shore in places like Maple, that's on the extreme end of what the various weather models are saying.
The National Weather Service as of Wednesday morning is 4-6 inches of snow in that area (as seen in the map below) around the head of the lake and down toward Lake Superior.
As they do point out in their information, where the heaviest snow will fall is not certain. There is also a chance of more snow than the forecasted amounts falling in some places.
What is the timeline for this snow?
Rain will change to snow in the early morning hours of Thursday morning. Places in Minnesota will see that happen sooner than those in Wisconsin.
The heaviest snow is anticipated earlier in the day, generally before noon. Snow is expected to continue through the later parts of the day before wrapping up late Thursday or early Friday morning.
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Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth