textproduct: Duluth

KEY MESSAGES

- Freezing rain/drizzle ends across northwest Wisconsin this afternoon with fog lingering for tonight.

- Dry and mild for Wednesday and Thursday with dry conditions.

- Precipitation chances return for Friday into the weekend as the pattern turns cooler and more active.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 221 PM CST Tue Jan 6 2026

Low pressure was located south of Hudson Bay and west of James Bay in northwestern Ontario this afternoon with a cold front trailing across Lake Superior into northwestern Wisconsin, southern Minnesota and back into the Dakotas. Weak high pressure was analyzed across the Red River Valley of the North. Ahead of the cold front across northwestern Wisconsin, radar returns were evident with surface observations of freezing rain, freezing drizzle and unknown precipitation. This activity will move east of the Northland by late this afternoon with a trace to perhaps a few hundredths of an inch of ice possible across mainly Iron and Price counties. As the ridge axis moves through the region tonight, winds will turn southerly and bring warmer air northward. This will lead to the development of fog across much of the Northland for the early morning hours through late morning. Some areas of fog may be dense and an advisory may be needed if dense fog is widespread.

Quasi-zonal flow aloft on Wednesday will transition to southwesterly by Thursday. This will keep southerly flow at the surface in place at the surface Wednesday with highs Wednesday and Thursday in the middle 30s along with dry conditions. With the above freezing temperatures during the day leading to snowmelt, there will likely be enough low level moisture for the formation of fog Wednesday night, especially in southern areas.

Heading into the weekend, southwesterly flow will bring a Panhandle hook storm from the Southern Plains into the Great Lakes in the Thursday night into Friday timeframe. Global models continue to keep almost all of the impacts from this system out of the Northland, aside from perhaps Price County seeing chances for rain or a rain/snow mix as the system passes well to our south and east. Cooler air will arrive behind this system for Friday with highs reaching into the upper 20s to lower 30s. Another low then looks to develop along the cold front in eastern Texas and move northeastward as another upper low and associated trough move into the Northern Plains. As these systems interact across the Midwest, light snow looks possible across parts of the Northland for Saturday into Saturday night. The heaviest snow will likely be across the northwest Wisconsin snowbelt with lake-enhancement followed by lake-effect snowfall. Temperatures will continue to cool with highs Saturday and Sunday in the 20s. Low chances for precipitation linger into next week along with a brief warmup to start the week before cooling to more normal temperatures midweek.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1148 AM CST Tue Jan 6 2026

IFR to LIFR conditions prevail across the Northland currently with little improvement expected through the period. Any lingering areas of freezing rain and freezing drizzle will end over the next few hours with dry conditions then expected for the remainder of the period. VSBYs will likely improve to at least MVFR for a period this afternoon before coming back down to IFR or lower as fog redevelops tonight. CIGs are expected to remain IFR to LIFR through the period with some improvement possible late in the period. Winds will remain under 10 knots through the period, although some gusts to around 15 knots will be possible later this afternoon at DLH.

MARINE /FOR NEARSHORE WATERS OF WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR/

Issued at 221 PM CST Tue Jan 6 2026

Winds will generally remain under 15 knots through the forecast period with a few gusts to around 20 knots possible Wednesday from the southwest from Grand Marais to Grand Portage. Stronger winds are expected Saturday into Sunday as a large area of low pressure passes through/near the region. There remains a 5 to 10% chance of gales during this time period. Otherwise, no hazardous conditions are expected over the next 48 hours.

For the open water discussion, refer to the NWS Marquette Area Forecast Discussion at weather.gov/mqt.

DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

MN...None. WI...Winter Weather Advisory until 3 PM CST this afternoon for WIZ007>009. MARINE...None.