FXUS63 KFGF 232344 AFDFGF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 544 PM CST Thu Jan 23 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - A prolonged period of light snow Friday through Saturday will result in snowfall amounts around 1 inch, with up to 2 inches across northwest Minnesota. - Windy conditions and some blowing/drifting snow are anticipated Friday afternoon into Friday night west of the Red River Valley, then also including the RRV on Saturday and Sunday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 244 PM CST Thu Jan 23 2025 ...Synopsis... Looks like we will be stuck in northwest flow for the duration of this 7-day forecast period. Therefore, there will be periodic weak waves that bring light amounts of precipitation and gusty winds at times. Depending on whether there is falling snow at the time, or just blowing and drifting of the snow on the ground, this could bring minor winter weather impacts. Overall, temperatures will be much warmer than they have been, with highs generally in the 20s. ...Light snow Friday through Saturday... The first short wave looks to drop into the FA Friday morning, with a trailing one Friday night into Saturday morning. This makes for steady 850mb warm advection across the FA tonight. Think the current low clouds that are out there now will be trapped below the inversion, so it will be at least partly to mostly cloudy. Any areas that stay cloudy should also see at least some flurries. As far as snowfall amounts for Friday through Saturday, we are still thinking most areas should see amounts around or less than 1 inch, although there may be up to 2 inches across northwest Minnesota. However, this will be over a 24 to 36 hour period, and the rates of snow will vary throughout. As we know, visibilities will be the worst when snow is falling. ...Windy conditions... At this point, it looks to be pretty gusty (sustained winds 20 to 30 mph) Friday afternoon into Friday night across the Devils Lake region. Moving into Saturday and Sunday, these sort of winds will expand into the RRV as well as the Devils Lake region. On Sunday, sustained winds may be even higher along and west of the western edge of the RRV (sustained winds 25 to 35 mph). Wind directions look to be westerly Friday, northwest Saturday, and westerly on Sunday. Each of these days should feature some blowing and drifting snow (depending on how much blowable snow remains). These minor impacts from blowing and drifting should be felt the most across the Devils Lake region. With westerly winds, the immediate RRV is somewhat sheltered. Sometimes with westerly winds, there is a little RRV skip over and the eastern fringes of the valley see a little worse conditions that right within. With snow drifting across surfaces, scattered slippery spots may develop. Of course, anytime there is steady falling snow, these blowing/drifting snow thoughts go out the window. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 544 PM CST Thu Jan 23 2025 MVFR ceilings will continue through the night, expanding across all TAF sites. Light snow is occuring under this cloud deck, but visibilities remain VFR at our sites and when looking at ones upstream. Snow should increase in intensity towards daybreak, reducing visibilities down to MVFR. Gusty winds in the afternoon will likely create areas of BLSN, further reducing visibilities into the low MVFR to IFR range. Improvement in visibilities is expected by tomorrow evening, which is just beyond the current TAF period. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Godon AVIATION...Rafferty