Latest Duluth Area Text Forecast Discussion product from NWS:
238
FXUS63 KDLH 060937
AFDDLH
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Duluth MN
337 AM CST Sat Dec 6 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Arctic air for the weekend will keep highs in the single digits to
low teens with overnight lows below zero.
- Active weather next week with multiple systems passing through
the region. The Tuesday into Wednesday system currently looks
to be the most impactful with the potential for heavy snowfall.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 328 AM CST Sat Dec 6 2025
Current Conditions/Weekend:
An arctic air mass located over Alberta continues to flex its
influence over the region this morning with surface ridging
extending down into the Upper Midwest. Cold air will continuously
pour over the region with highs today struggling to get out of the
teens. With the cold air seeping over the region combined with
northwest flow we can still expect some snow showers downstream of
the bigger inland lakes, particularly up along the International
Border. And of course, we can`t forget about the South Shore. More
lake effect snow showers for those counties as well. This forecast
package did go ahead and bump snow totals up a smidge. Totals
through tomorrow are now around a couple of inches, which by South
Shore standards is hardly noticeable.
The arctic air mass sinks its way into the Red River Valley
bringing some drier air and some sunnier conditions on Sunday.
Despite the mostly sunny skies even colder air will infiltrate
the region with highs largely in the single digits for MN and in
the teens for NW WI. The dry air in the lower levels will
eventually help to shut off the lake effect snow showers across
Ashland and Iron in the evening hours.
Active Pattern Next Week:
Round One:
Monday the arctic air mass begins to exit to the east with southerly
flow returning to the region. Some light snow will be possible
through the day as the surface convergence lines up with a weak
shortwave passing overhead. This light snow is expected in the
morning but more snow is expected in the evening hours. A weak
Alberta clipper looks to dive into MN by 9PM with fairly high
agreement among the GEFS and Euro surface low tracks. This system
will sport some increased QPF paired with a small area of increased
lift leading to some moderate snowfall rates. Most of this snow
looks to fall in the overnight period with the Arrowhead and
Borderlands likely seeing the bulk of the accumulation. The
latest trends with this first system have pushed the track
slightly farther north and increased snowfall totals. We are now
seeing probabilities around 20-40% chance for seeing 4" in the
aforementioned areas.
Round Two:
The more impressive system will be the second one slotted to come
through Tuesday. While this is another system out of Alberta this
low is projected to be a 980-990mb depending on which model you
are looking at. This one also looks to carry more Pacific
moisture with it. An impressive atmospheric river is expected to
impact the Pacific NW on Monday and this system looks to siphon
some of that moisture and deposit it into the Northland. PWATs
are projected to increase 0.50" The 00Z suite of deterministic
guidance boasts some impressive forcing mechanics in play for
this system with a strong signal in both QG vectors and
differential vorticity. These synoptic features joined with some
enhanced FGEN bands may lead to some very heavy snowfall rates.
With all that being said there is still plenty of time for the
track of the system to change. While there is fairly good
agreement this far out from both sets of ensembles there is a
small cluster of lows that are lagging behind the main cluster
which may impact the overall timing of when this system arrives.
But overall, the probabilities for widespread impactful snow
continues to increase. The previous guidance had 30-50% chance
of greater than 4" it is now up to 40-60%.
Round 3?
The main system of the week (round 2) should exit Wednesday
afternoon with lingering lake effect snow showers for the South
Shore. Possibly hot on its heels may be round 3. Still a great deal
of uncertainty with this clipper system and it may dive far enough
south that we won`t see too much of an impact. For now, the latest
deterministic guidance doesn`t show this clipper packing as much of
a punch as Tuesday`s system. And given the spread in solutions at
this time we are only carrying a 20% chance for snow at the moment.
&&
.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY/...
Issued at 1131 PM CST Fri Dec 5 2025
MVFR ceilings still largely encompass most of the region. Satellite
does show some clearing skies along the International Border with a
trend towards the southeast. Radar is also still picking up on a
some light snow showers under the cloud deck. Models are really
struggling with cloud cover for Saturday so confidence is a little
low as to how these ceilings will play out. For now, we expect a
return to VFR conditions, clouds are not expected to fully clear out
but we think the coverage will be more SCT than BKN. High res
guidance suggests the highest density of MVFR clouds will be along
the International Border, through the Arrowhead and into NW WI
during the afternoon hours.
&&
.MARINE /FOR NEAR SHORE WATERS OF WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR/...
Issued at 328 AM CST Sat Dec 6 2025
Northwest winds today continue with the windiest conditions expected
this morning. Small Craft Advisories will fully drop off after 9AM.
Quiet conditions for Sunday before the weather become very active
for the work week. Multiple clipper systems are set to impact the
region with the Tuesday into Wednesday system looking to be a
prolific snow producer. Gusty conditions will once again return on
Monday and we may see some Gales associated with the stronger system
for Wednesday.
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 6 AM CST early this morning for
LSZ121-145>148.
Small Craft Advisory until 9 AM CST this morning for LSZ140-
141-150.
&&
$$
DISCUSSION...Britt
AVIATION...Britt
MARINE...Britt
NWS DLH Office Area Forecast Discussion
