Winter Weather Advisory Issued for the Duluth / Superior Region for Thanksgiving and Black Friday

As reported earlier, the possibility of winter weather threatening travel and activities for Thanksgiving and Black Friday in the Twin Ports was looming. The National Weather Service has now made it official. 

In a report issued this afternoon, a winter weather advisory has been issued for areas just north of Duluth, covering all of Northern Minnesota. The advisory (see map below) goes into effect at 3 pm on Thanksgiving Day, and will continue through 6 am on Black Friday. The advisory warns of mixed precipitation and snow, with blowing snow making travel difficult overnight Thursday into Friday morning.

What to Expect

• Late Thursday Afternoon - Rapidly dropping temperatures and wind - After hitting predicted daytime highs near 50 degrees around the Twin Ports, a strong north wind will drop temperatures to near 20 degrees through Thursday evening and into Friday morning.
• Evening/Overnight Thursday -  Evening Rain changing to snow - rain is expected to start falling Thursday afternoon, then switch to a mix, and finally snow as temperatures fall. By Friday morning, 2-4 inches could fall in the Twin Ports region and 3-6 inches could fall closer to the Canadian border. Windy conditions will cause blowing snow and wind chills in the single digits.
• Friday Morning - Continued chance of snow - As the system moves through the area, lake effect snow is possible through the day on Black Friday, with the greatest impact from Duluth to the Bayfield Peninsula. This could bring an additional inch or two of snow to what fell overnight.
• Friday Afternoon - Eventual clearing - Friday afternoon, the storm system is expected to clear, giving way to sun. Wind chills will remain in the single digits as cold north wind continues through the day into Friday night.