DULUTH — Up to 6-8 inches of light, fluffy snow could fall on the Twin Ports and North Shore on Thursday, the National Weather Service in Duluth said Wednesday.
That’s thanks to expected onshore winds picking up over a relatively warm Lake Superior on Thursday morning, said Steve Gohde, the observing program leader at the National Weather Service in Duluth. The heaviest snowfall is expected from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, the Weather Service said.
“It could be a very tricky commute with areas of snow bands where we may get up to three inches of snow an hour,” Gohde said.
The Weather Service expects the heaviest snowfall within 15 miles of Lake Superior, but much of the Interstate 35 corridor through Pine County could also receive 6-8 inches of snow.
Gohde said snowfall variability could be high.
“With the temperature difference between the air and lake being about 15 degrees, that’s going to be able to generate some lake effect snow,” said Gohde. “The challenge with lake-effect snow is they can be ‘streamers,’ or kind of like a fire hose effect where you’re getting snow squalls that are occurring in one area, but not in another.”
The Weather Service said Duluth has an 81% chance of receiving at least 4 inches of snow and a 55% chance of receiving more than 6 inches of snow throughout all of Thursday through 6 a.m. Friday.
Jimmy Lovrien covers environment-related issues, including mining, energy and climate, for the Duluth News Tribune. He can be reached at [email protected] or 218-723-5332.
