textproduct: Duluth

KEY MESSAGES

- Snow and mixed precipitation will taper off this evening.

- Snow showers are likely Sunday afternoon into Monday. A few snow squalls are possible Sunday late afternoon and night.

- Temperatures warm up midweek with occasional rain/snow chances into next weekend.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 135 PM CDT Sat Apr 4 2026

Current Conditions - Wrapping up the Storm: The low pressure center is approximately overhead of the Twin Ports at this hour. The heavier snow band lingers to our west in northwest Minnesota and has pushed north into Ontario after bringing us our snow this morning. Northwest wisconsin did see plenty of ice with many reports around or approaching a quarter of an inch. There have been some higher snowfall totals >6" north of the Iron Range. Areas in-between, however, have not seen very impressive amounts of either ice or snow with widespread ~1 to 2 inch reports of essentially "concrete" snow/sleet/ice.

Wraparound snow showers will pivot through this afternoon and early evening and may deposit a few more inches of snow, though additional amounts will be more localized and some places may not see much more snow. We have gradually been ending headlines across northwest Wisconsin as temperatures have warmed above freezing, and additional headlines may be ended early this afternoon as conditions gradually improve from southwest to northeast.

We will get into a northwest flow regime after the low passes through this afternoon. Dry air will be moving in fairly quickly this evening, but we may have a short few-hour window where some lake and terrain enhanced snow may drop a few additional inches of snow for the South Shore. Otherwise, expect improving conditions.

Sunday into Monday - Snow Shower and Snow Squall Potential: A trailing upper-level trough is expected to pass through Sunday afternoon from the northwest. We will see a little moisture boost out ahead of this along with some steep low-level lapse rates. We should end up with some convective snow showers as a result. We could see a few of these snow showers reach snow squall intensity with brief 1/4 mile visibility. Winds are not looking overly strong and temperatures will probably be above freezing during the daylight hours, so not all variables are in play for a snow squall event. In addition, we won't have a well- defined frontal boundary to work with, so any snow squalls will be somewhat random in location and timing. As temperatures start to dip below freezing after sunset, we should retain conditions favorable for snow showers for several hours into the night as the upper-level trough swings through. The timeframe from around 5 PM to midnight will likely be the best chance for any snow squalls with temperatures cooling enough to pose a potential travel hazard. Accumulations are expected to be pretty localized, but an inch or two of snow could fall for areas where snow showers or snow squalls may develop. We may see these snow showers linger in northwest Wisconsin into Monday, partially aided by some lake-enhancement, but also by another trough passing by aloft.

Extended - Tuesday through next weekend:

Surface high pressure should settle in Monday night, and we'll be looking at some chilly overnight lows in the single digits above zero. Expect some quick recovery into the 30s and 40s by the afternoon as southerly flow develops on the backside of the high. Expect quiet weather on Tuesday, but it's looking like a clipper will make its way towards the Northland Tuesday night into Wednesday. With warmer air, this will likely be a rain/snow situation, with rain more likely during the day and snow mixing in at night. Accumulations of snow should be pretty minimal, but we will have to keep an eye on it because some light accumulating snow may be possible on the north side of this, which right now would put it in Ontario. If the clipper tracks south, this could impact northeast Minnesota. Most likely, though, Wednesday will probably end up being pretty warm with highs in the 50s and low 60s for east-central Minnesota into northwest Wisconsin.

The pattern after the mid-week clipper looks relatively benign. We could see another clipper pass through sometime around Friday-Saturday. In general, the upper-level pattern is looking zonal, so no major systems and we should see temperatures warm up enough to melt off the new snow we're getting right now.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/

Issued at 1219 AM CDT Sun Apr 5 2026

Conditions are steadily becoming VFR early this morning, with only DLH and HYR remaining with some MVFR ceilings. The clouds at DLH are influenced by the gravity wave due to northwest flow over the North Shore terrain ridge, and confidence is low for when these might start to dissipate. We are expecting winds to shift slightly more westerly through this morning, which should help those clouds break down 12-15z if they don't fall apart sooner. At HYR, there is a mix of guidance for how long the MVFR cloud decks linger - some have it through the whole TAF period while others bring VFR in through mid to late morning. Through this afternoon, expect a return to MVFR at all terminals as the beginning of the next system moves in with some rain and snow showers this afternoon and early this evening. Precipitation should taper off through the evening but lower clouds remain. Some rain/snow showers could be slightly more robust and bring sudden reductions in visibility.

MARINE /FOR NEARSHORE WATERS OF WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR/

Issued at 1021 AM CDT Sat Apr 4 2026

Some headline changes with this update. Winds are below gale force for most areas, so widespread downgrades to Small Craft Advisory have been issued. Gale Warnings will remain from Taconite Harbor to Grand Portage until this afternoon as some stronger gusts will remain possible there. As winds switch northwesterly tonight, expect gusts to around 25 kt to remain until Sunday morning, especially in the Outer Apostle Islands to Saxon Harbor.

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

DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

MN...None. WI...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 10 AM CDT this morning for LSZ140- 141. Small Craft Advisory until 4 AM CDT early this morning for LSZ142>147. Small Craft Advisory until 7 AM CDT this morning for LSZ148- 150.