Brandon Marshall - ABC 6 Meteorologist, 1320 Salem Road SW, Rochester, MN (2026)

01/15/2026

10:40 a.m. | THU. JAN. 15 | - **OCCASIONAL SNOW SHOWERS, GUSTY WIND AND SLIPPERY TRAVEL**

The rest of the week is shaping up to be an active one as a slow-moving storm system will bring occasional snow showers to the area beginning Thursdsay afternoon and lasting until early Saturday morning. Travel will be affected with roadways and surfaces becoming slick.

Snow showers will be possible on Thursday afternoon as an initial wave of moisture and energy passes through. There may be a brief period from late afternoon until midevening where a wintry mix of freezing drizzle and snow is possible before changing back to snow thereafter through Thursday night into Friday morning. Snow accumulations look to stay around 1.0" or less.

Periods of snow will be likely throughout Friday with some heavier bursts here and there. Additional accumulations of 1.0" are possible. Snow showers will end early Saturday morning with total snow accumulations of 1-3" possible.

The wind will be rather blustery at times from Thursday night through Friday with gusts up to 35 mph at times. That'll lead to areas of blowing snow and lower visibility especially in open and rural areas.

Cold air will punch in on Friday. Temperatures will be near or in the lower 30s during the morning hours before falliing into the teens by the middle afternoon hours. Wind chills will also fall below zero.

Winter is back!

01/13/2026

8:57 a.m. | TUE. JAN. 13 | - **OCCASIONAL SNOW LIKELY THURSDAY TO SATURDAY**

An active weather pattern is expected for the end of the week into the weekend with periods of snow and likely accumulations.

A slow-moving storm system will dive southeast out of Canada and pivot its way across the Great Lakes beginning Thursday and lasting until early Saturday. Multiple waves of energy win pinwheel around this system leading to periods of snow during this time.

The snow isn't expected to be heavy, but light enough that over time, it'll gradually accumulate leading to slippery roads and surfaces. Early indication from various sets of data suggests 1-3" is likely across much of Southeast Minnesota and North Iowa. Pockets of locally higher amounts (4") can't be ruled out if any of these waves happens to be a bit more on the stronger side.

It'll also be a windy period with wind gusts over 30 mph at times which will lead to blowing snow and lower visibility under these snow showers especially in open and rural areas.

Another clipper system may track through the region on Sunday with additional accumulation possible, but uncertainty exists this far out on how this system may evolve.

01/13/2026

8:30 a.m. | TUE. JAN. 13 | - **COLDER WEATHER COMING**

Tuesday will be one more mild January day with temperatures expecting to push into the lower 40s for highs - which is near 20° above average. A brisk wind will keep wind chills in the 30s.

A cold front slides through later in the day bringing in clouds and a noticeable change heading into Wednesday. A few sprinkles or flurries are possible as the front passes. Temperatures will fall into the teens with wind chills near 0° by Wednesday morning.

01/09/2026

10:20 a.m. | FRI. JAN 9 | - **WEEKEND OUTLOOK**

Snow showers will be likely through the first half of the weekend. Temperatures will also be near average for early January.

FRIDAY NIGHT: Mainly cloudy with snow likely - mainly between 12:00 to 5:00 a.m.. Temperatures will fall into the lower 20s.

SATURDAY: Mainly cloudy with scattered snow showers especially around midday into the afternoon. Accumulations looking minor with a few tenths of an inch possible. Can't rule out some slippery spots on roadways and surfaces. Breezy. High temperature near 25° by midday and then falling into the teens by evening. Wind chills will also fall into the single digits.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy. Breezy. Lows near 15°. Wind chills between 0° and 5°.

SUNDAY: Partly sunny. A light northwest to southwest wind. High temperature near 24°. Wind chills staying in the teens all day.

01/09/2026

9:48 a.m. | FRI. JAN 9 | - **THURSDAY RAINFALL**

As it turned out, rain was the predominate precipitation type on Thursday as the expected changeover to snow never was able to fully occur. Temperatures at approximately 2,500 to 5,000 feet stayed warm too long and didn't cool enough to allow the lower, near surface tempertures to cool and allow the transition to snow to take place. But, I'm sure most people aren't sad about that 🤣

The area did see a good soaking rain at least for January standards as reports of 0.25" to 0.75" were fairly common with a few places seeing higher amounts especially across portions of North and Northeast Iowa into Southwest Wisconsin.

The Rochester International Airport set a new daily record for rainfall with 0.53" which surpassed the old record of 0.42" set in 1937.

01/08/2026

10:15 a.m. | THU. JAN. 8 | - **RAIN THURSDAY AFTERNOON, CHANGING TO SNOW THURSDAY NIGHT**

Rain will arrive during the Thursday afternoon hours:
*North Iowa: 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
*Southeast Minnesota: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Temperatures will gradually drop into the lower 30s on Thursday evening along with colder air pushing in a few thousand feet aloft. This will allow snow to mix with rain and eventually changeover to snow at some point Thursday night.

Snow accumulations are tricky with most communities likely seeing a dusting to around one inch. However, if the rain to snow transition happens a bit earlier than expected, accumulations of 2" or 3" can't be ruled out which will likely lead to slushy, slippery roads.

Rainfall amounts will generally be between 0.25" to 0.75" with the higher end amounts likely south of I-90 into Northeast Iowa where up to 1.00" is possible. The rain will fall on frozen ground, and combined with a melting snowpack, some ponding and minor flooding issues are possible.

01/07/2026

10:20 a.m. | WED. JAN. 7 | - **THURSDAY RAIN AND SNOW**

A storm system is set to impact Southeast Minnesota and North Iowa on Thursday with rain and snow.

This system will have quite a bit of moisture to work with. A surface low pressure will develop in the Southern Plains and track northeast into northern Missouri, southeast Iowa and into the Great Lakes region.

Temperatures will likely be around the middle or upper 30s by the middle to late afternoon hours with rain developing. As temperatures cool off on Thursday evening, there will likely be a mix of rain/snow and possibly all snow for a brief time before ending overnight into early Friday.

Total precipitation amounts of 0.50" to 0.90" is likely. Most will fall as liquid rain. Snow accumulations are looking light with many seeing 1.0" or less. The snow will likely fall with temperatures in the lower 30s, so it'll likely be a heavier, wet snow and some may melt on contact with pavement surfaces.

01/06/2026

HAWAII SNOW!! ❄️🌴 It's a winter wonderland at the Big Island summits with as much as 10" of snow from a winter storm. Wind chills also in the 20s! Credit: Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

01/05/2026

9:40 a.m. | MON. JAN 5 | - **LIGHT RAIN, FREEZING RAIN MONDAY NIGHT - TUESDAY MORNING**

A weak system will pass through the region Monday evening with precipitation developing that will carry over into Tuesday morning.

Warmer temperatures will likely be above the freezing mark around a few thousand feet aloft in the atmosphere which will allow any precipitation to melt into liquid form. However, temperatures will be hovering near the freezing mark at the surface. This will result in occasional rain and freezing rain which could make for some slippery spots especially overnight and for the Tuesday morning commute.

A light glaze of ice is certainly possible although more likely across portions of Central Minnesota and Wisconsin where **WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES** are in effect from late tonight until midday Tuesday.

01/02/2026

10:18 a.m. | FRI. JAN. 2 | - **DECEMBER NUMBERS, LOOKING AHEAD TO JANUARY**

The December numbers are in the books! Some highlights below 🔽

**In Rochester, December finished with an average temperature of 18.0° which was -2.8° below the thirty-year climatological average of 20.8°. It was the coldest December since 2022. The warmest temperature was 40° which occurred on December 16th. The coldest temperature was -13° on the morning of December 4th.

**The average high temperature was 26.8° which was 1.2° colder than the thirty-year climatological average of 28.0°. Meanwhile, the average low temperature was 9.2° which was 4.4° colder than the average of 13.6°. The average low temperature was the coldest for a December since 2013.

**December finished with 0.94″ of total precipitation which was 0.34″ below the thirty-year average of 1.28″. It was the driest December since 2020. Meanwhile, the month saw 9.0″ of snow which was 3.4″ below average. The snowiest day was on December 28th when 5.2″ fell. The month finished with twelve days of measurable snow and six others which had a trace of accumulation.

**LOOKING AHEAD TO JANUARY**

**The average high and low temperatures continue to drop through the middle of the month before becoming steady and slowly rising toward the end. The average high goes from 24° on January 1st to 22° on January 15th and up to 23° by the end of the month whereas the average low temperature will go from 9° at the beginning to 7° by the end.

**January also averages around 0.99″ of precipitation and 12.2″ of snow making it the second snowiest month of the year behind December.

**The month will gain approximately 53 minutes of daylight as a whole from beginning to end.

01/02/2026

9:50 a.m. | FRI. JAN. 2 | - **WEEKEND OUTLOOK**

The first half of the weekend will be quiet with some precipitaiton possible across mainly Southeast Minnesota on Sunday. Temperatures will also gradually inch upward through the weekend returning to above average on Sunday.

Clouds will be around for the majority of Saturday with temperatures pushing to near 20° for afternoon highs. The wind will be light out of the west.

A quick-moving system will push through from west-to-east on Sunday. Precipitation is possible around midday into the afternoon. Temperatures are expected to be in the upper 20s to near 30°, but it’ll be warmer a few thousand feet high in the atmosphere which will allow precipitation to melt into liquid before it encounters the colder air near the surface turning that precipitation into a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and/or snow. There is still some uncertainty on how much of the area area will see any mix before it pushes into Wisconsin on Sunday evening. Nonetheless, some slippery spots would be possible where the mix does fall. At this time some minor impacts can't be ruled out with a higher likelihood of those impacts near the Mississippi River into Wisconsin.

Stay updated on the forecast for those that may be traveling on Sunday.

01/01/2026

8:52 a.m. | THU. JAN 1 | - **LIGHT SNOW, MINOR ACCUMULATIONS**

It may be a new year, but another round of snow will impact some locations on New Year's Day.

Light snow will be likely especially for those near and east of Highway 52 in far Southeast Minnesota. Flurries will be possible further west.

Snow will begin to end around midday. Accumulations will be fairly minor, however further east toward the Mississippi River into Wisconsin, up to 1.0" is possilbe. Roads and surfaces may become slippery where any snow accumulates.

Brandon Marshall - ABC 6 Meteorologist

01/15/2026

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