BRAINERD — With a wet, and therefore potentially heavy, snowfall in the forecast into Monday morning, March 6, the downgraded amounts may be a welcome update.
“A swath of snow ranging from 2 to 5 inches generally along and south of a line from the Brainerd Lakes to Duluth” and into Wisconsin was expected to start Sunday night and continue into Monday, the National Weather Service in Duluth reported in an update just before 4 p.m. Sunday. The update generally lowered snowfall amounts expected with this system, but the region remains in a winter weather advisory from 6 p.m Sunday to 3 p.m. Monday.
“One to three inches of wet snow in the Advisory area tonight could lead to slick conditions for the Monday morning commute,” the weather service reported Sunday, noting the heaviest snow was expected to fall Sunday night. “... Up to another few inches of snow could fall Monday mid-morning and afternoon on top of the already slick roads.”
There may be some impacts late tonight into the Monday morning commute from snow that is expected to fall over southern parts of the Northland. Here is the timing of the snowfall for certain cities and towns across the region. #mnwx #wiwx pic.twitter.com/KGrfQXFp5b
— NWS Duluth (@NWSduluth) March 5, 2023
Snowfall was expected to start Sunday evening and then spread north and east. Central to southern parts of Cass, Crow Wing, Aitkin and Wadena counties expected to have snow start between 6-9 p.m. Sunday and possibly later, 9 p.m. to midnight, for northern Crow Wing County and northern parts of Cass and Aitkin counties.
Most of Todd, all of Morrison and Mille Lacs counties were part of the earlier Sunday evening projection of 6-9 p.m. for the start of the snowfall.
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Most of the seven-county region had a greater than 60% chance of an inch or more of fresh snow, with a 44-49% probability of 2 inches or more. There was a greater chance for higher snowfall totals in Duluth, along the North Shore and into the northwest Wisconsin snowbelt. Probabilities of 4 inches of snow or more were about 23% for the Brainerd lakes area.
There could be a lull overnight before more snow falls Monday morning. The weather service forecast calls for snow to taper off Monday afternoon and night for most areas. Snowfall predictions for the Brainerd lakes area have snow ending after 3 p.m.
On the plus side, the snow may be good for sculpting with the milder temperatures.
This most recent storm was carving a path across the Upper Midwest with winter weather advisories stretching west from Central Montana to Lake Michigan. The snowpack was soft and sticky Sunday as temperatures rose to nearly 40 degrees Sunday afternoon after a chilly morning start of 5 degrees.
The high temperature is expected to reach 35 degrees Monday with breezy conditions and a north wind that may gust as high as 25 mph. Look for a low of 14 degrees Monday night. For the week ahead, the forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-30s during the day and 20s at night.
A chance of snow returns to the forecast Tuesday night into Saturday.
In the extended forecast, the weather service anticipates cooler temperatures for the coming weekend with highs in the upper 20s and blustery conditions with a north wind.
The normal high for this time of year is 35 degrees.
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Weather records for this date
The high and low record temperatures of March 6
- Record high of 66 degrees in 2000,
- Record low of 22 below in 1920.
- Coldest daytime high of 1 below in 1899.
- Warmest nighttime temperature of 38 degrees in 2000.
- Highest snowfall was 7.8 inches in 1916 (official snowfall and snowdepth records were discontinued for the Brainerd area in the fall of 2021).
Renee Richardson, managing editor, may be reached at 218-855-5852 or renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DispatchBizBuzz.
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