Freezing rain advisory issued for Thursday, Friday; temperatures to fall over weekend

Some parts of the West Central Tribune’s coverage area are expected to receive freezing rain Thursday evening and Friday morning, then to experience a drastic drop in temperatures and wind chills.

A freezing rain advisory will be in effect from 6 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday in Pope and Stearns counties and in counties further north, according to the National Weather Service.

The advisory says the freezing rain will fall especially north of a line from Morris to St. Cloud to Cambridge in Minnesota and will spread into west central Wisconsin.

In areas south of that line, temperatures are expected to remain just above freezing through the night. On Friday, temperatures should be in the middle 30s in the morning, and the freezing rain should end.

A sharp drop in temperatures is expected to begin Friday night, and the highs on Saturday are forecast to be in single digits with winds from the west gusting into the 30s.

Lows Saturday night and Sunday night are forecast to be below zero.