The National Weather Service in Duluth just upped the ante when it comes to the amount of snow expected for the Brainerd lakes area.
What was first forecast Monday as a potential for 6 inches on Tuesday, April 9, was almost tripled to a possible 16 inches of snow for Crow Wing County. The snow is expected to begin sometime after midnight Wednesday, April 10, with the heaviest, wet snow likely to fall Thursday and the storm’s end expected about noon Friday.
And to top things off, wind gusts are expected to be as high as 45 mph.
Meteorologists with the NWS work 24-7 on updating the agency’s forecast using multiple weather models to report the most accurate data. The closer the storm is to its destination, the more accurate the data will be. A storm can shift directions at any time, which could be the case in the upcoming storm.
The NWS in Duluth issued a winter storm watch in effect from late Wednesday night through Friday morning for Cass, Crow Wing and Aitkin counties, to include the cities of Pine River, Brainerd, Hill City and Aitkin, much of northeast Minnesota and all of northwest Wisconsin. Heavy snow is possible with total snow accumulations of 9-16 inches and winds gusting as high as 45 mph.
Bill Leatham, NWS meteorologist in Duluth, Tuesday said Brainerd is expected to fall on the higher end of the expected range, closer to 16 inches of snow. The southern half of Crow Wing County sits in the path of the storm where 12-plus inches is expected and the northern half and most of Cass County sits in the path where 8-10 inches is expected. The storm’s path of 12-plus inches reaches as far north to Duluth and Silver Bay to the east into Wisconsin past Ashland and Hayward. If the storm shifts southeast, Brainerd could see less snow.
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