First Severe Storm Chances Of The Season For Minnesota, Wisconsin Pop Up This Week

If you're one of the people who are excitedly waiting for the end of winter and ready for springtime, here's a sign that's arriving.

The first severe thunderstorm chances of the 2026 season are looking possible in portions of Minnesota and Wisconsin later this week with a system that could also bring with it snow to other parts of the region.

Yup, one of those messy spring weather systems appears to be on the way. Here's what to know.

The first severe thunderstorm risk of the season comes to Minnesota & Wisconsin

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center is highlighting a risk of severe thunderstorms in the later parts of the day on Friday.

READ MORE: How Will March's Weather Be In Minnesota? Here's The Warm, Wet Outlook

As you can see in the map below, the southern half of Minnesota and nearly all of Wisconsin have the potential of seeing at least non-severe thunderstorms on Friday afternoon and evening.

The lightest shade of green indicates non-severe thunderstorm risks, which include areas just south of Duluth to cities like St. Cloud, the Twin Cities area, and Alexandria. On the Wisconsin side of the border, this includes places like Ashland and Bayfield, Eau Claire, and Wausau.

Get our free mobile app

The darker shade of green indicates the lowest tier of severe thunderstorm risk, which includes places like Rochester, Minnesota, as well as La Crosse, Madison, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

There's even a part of far Southwestern Wisconsin that dips into the second tier of risk for severe weather (in yellow).

There are snow chances, too? Yep...

As I mentioned, there are also snow chances with this storm system that will move through on Friday and into early Saturday.

As the Duluth office of the National Weather Service highlights, there is a chance of 2+ inches of snow in a swath of Northern Minnesota, including places like Grand Rapids, Walker, International Falls, and on the Iron Range.

It is worth mentioning that the amount of snow will largely depend on when rain changes to snow. As of right now, it appears rain will change to mixed precipitation in the evening hours, shifting to snow overnight Saturday, wrapping up by around sunrise.

Does that mean colder weather is ahead?

For those pining for spring, the good news is that things don't stay cold after this system moves out. Highs on Saturday could get up to around 40 before warming up even more on Sunday, with some parts of the region getting into the 50s, or even close to 60 to wrap up the weekend.