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Minnesota Weather: Wednesday's Storm Could Deliver Record-Breaking Snow

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Here we go again! Most of Minnesota is under a Winter Storm Warning as more snow is set to start falling across Minnesota early Wednesday morning, and it may push us into record-breaking territory.

WCCO-TV Meteorologist Chris Shaffer says this February is currently the fourth snowiest on record with 22.6 inches so far. We're just about 4 inches away from setting the February record (26.5 inches) – which we may get Wednesday.

This February is also the sixth-snowiest month in Minnesota's entire recorded history, with the Halloween blizzard of 1991 taking the cake with 46.9 inches. We'll easily pull into fifth place Wednesday.

Minnesota is on a storm highway this week, with a stream of moisture moving northeast from the Gulf of Mexico across the northern half of the country. Looking on the bright side, the really frigid temps are being held at bay north of us, so the snow won't be competing for our attention with bitter cold.

Record-breaking snow ahead? Chris Shaffer WCCO has the latest forecast!

Posted by WCCO-TV | CBS Minnesota on Tuesday, February 19, 2019

That moist air will warm us up a bit for Wednesday, with temperatures in the high 20s in the Twin Cities metro. It sounds kind of nice, until you realize it will make the coming snow very wet and heavy. Luckily, these are the ideal temperatures from ice melting chemicals to do their best work.

The snow storm will roll into the metro between midnight and 4 a.m. Wednesday. The heaviest snow will drop between the morning commute and lunch time. It will taper off around this time, but scattered flurries will continue through the evening commute.

The Twin Cities can expect between 4 to 6 inches of snow, while southern Minnesota -- including cities like Faribault, Owatonna and Lakeville -- could see a couple more inches on top of that. The northern part of the state will see about 3 to 4 inches of accumulation.

Mother Nature will give us a day off before more snow comes our way late Friday, and continues through Saturday and Sunday. But with temperatures forecasted in the mid-30s Saturday, that snow could turn to rain. Models so far range between 2 and 10 inches.

So if we don't set a record Wednesday, don't worry -- we'll get there before the weekend's finished.

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