How Long Will Winter Weather Settle Back Into Northern Minnesota For?

Hopefully you haven't put away the snow shovels, winter coats, and boots yet. Winter is returning to the Northland after another dose of "false spring".

As February wrapped up, I shared how the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center saw a warmer-than-normal trend for the first two-thirds of March. Now that we're a week into March, it looks like things are heading the other way. Snow and wind chills look like they are going to again be factors.

While yesterday (March 8) brought warm, springlike 50s to Northern Minnesota, several snow chances and cold weather look like they're settling in for the coming days. For how long? How cold will it get? How much snow is possible? Let's explore.

Short-Term Forecast Shows Several Snow Chances, Colder Temps For Northern Minnesota

The week ahead looks a lot less "springlike", with multiple snow chances throughout the week and daytime highs only in the 30s once again. While this isn't "brutal cold", it does look like it gets colder next week. More on that in a bit.

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Accompanying this week's daytime highs in the 30s (with overnight lows in the 20s), several bursts of snow are in the forecast for this week.

While it doesn't appear that any particular snow event will bring with it a lot of snow, by the end of this weekend, several inches of snow could accumulate in parts of Northern Minnesota.

The tracks of these snowmaking weather events aren't all clear yet, but some models suggest parts of Northern Minnesota could see 6 or more inches by the end of the weekend. As I mentioned, it won't all be at once. Plus, with a few days getting just above freezing (mid-30s), some melting could still occur this week.

Next Week Looks Colder Yet In Northern Minnesota

As we wrap up the weekend and head into St. Patrick's Day week in the Northland, even colder temperatures look to push into the region.

Sunday night (March 15) kicks it all off, with overnight lows expected to sink to around zero degrees. Wind chill values could head below zero. In Duluth, for example, overnight lows Sunday night into Monday are expected to bottom out around 4 degrees, with wind chill values getting close to -10.

Monday and Tuesday, it looks like we'll only get into the 20s before a bit of a "warm up" back to around 30 for Wednesday.

How Long Does The Cold Stick Around In Northern Minnesota?

The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) sees a notable probability of colder-than-normal temperatures across Northern Minnesota through March 22.

Going along with that, a slight favorability for wetter-than-normal conditions could lead to some additional snow or other wintery precipitation chances through the middle part of the month.

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For the last week and a half of March, the CPC sees a likelihood of warmer-than-normal temperatures spreading across a good share of the country, but Minnesota is in a border zone between possible warmer-than-normal and colder-than-normal temperatures, which means there are equal chances of seeing warmer, cooler, or average temperatures to wrap up March in the Northland.