Rain midweek; freezing rain?

For snow lovers across the southern half of Minnesota, the storm system for midweek does not look all that promising for snow.  Recent trends are indicating that the southern two-thirds will be in the warm sector, thus any precipitation will fall as rain.  Yes, you heard that right, rain for mid-December!  The red line below from the NAM model indicates the rain/snow line.

Another short-range model, the SREF, shifts the rain/snow line a bit further south, but keeps the southern half of the state in the “rain zone”.

There are some hints that there could be freezing rain at times early Wednesday morning across central Minnesota, and encroaching on the Twin Cities.  This is something that will have to be closely watched in the upcoming days as it could impact the work commute.

There is not a ton of moisture associated with this system.  The southeastern third of Minnesota could see a half to three-quarters inch of rain out between Wednesday morning and Friday morning.  The upper layer of the soil profile is said to be frozen to a few inches in most Minnesota locales, so unfortunately any rain will have difficulty penetrating into the ground to alleviate the drought.

RS