We’re heading into a snowy and very cold weekend in St. Cloud and Central Minnesota.

St. Cloud State University meteorology professor Bob Weisman says there is a wind chill advisory today as wind chills are in the -35 to -25 range. At these levels, exposed skin will freeze in 15-30 minutes. And, there’s more wind to come later this weekend.

Weisman says to be prepared for Friday’s snow too. The snow will fall at rates high enough to make it difficult for road crews to keep up on Friday. This will be between early Friday and early afternoon in southwestern Minnesota, between noon and midnight in central Minnesota, including St. Cloud and the Twin Cities

We can expect 4-8 inches of snow with some areas possibly hitting 8-10 inches. The second wave will come on Saturday after the snow is over when the winds pick up. This will happen in the early morning hours Saturday in western and northwestern Minnesota and begin close to sunrise in central Minnesota.

The wind period will begin in northeastern Minnesota by mid-morning Saturday. Winds of 20-35 mph with gusts of 40-50 mph will cause major blowing and drifting problems. Weisman expects travel conditions to be as bad, if not worse, on Saturday than Friday due to drifting snow.