In a winter in which snow has been a scarce commodity, a storm will dump up to 10 inches across southwestern Minnesota Monday and Tuesday.
In the Twin Cities, up to 2 inches of snow could fall before the storm winds down on Tuesday morning and temperatures begin a slow downward slide with the first below zero-readings on tap for the weekend.
On Monday, winter storm warnings cover 10 counties in southwestern Minnesota — including the cities of Worthington, Marshall, Slayton, Granite Falls and Montevideo — and will remain in effect until Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service said.
“Travel could be very difficult,” the weather service said. “The hazardous conditions could impact the morning and evening commutes.”
Winter weather advisories are in place through Tuesday morning for a large swath of west-central and southern Minnesota where places such as Alexandria, Madison, Willmar, St. Cloud, Hutchinson, Mankato, Fairmont and Red Wing could see 2 to 6 inches of snow, the weather service said.
Places in southeastern Minnesota, such as Rochester and Winona, could pick up as many as 5 inches of snow as the system moves east Monday, the weather service said.
The metro area could see more light snow later in the week, the weather service said, but it won’t significantly add to the paltry 5.6 inches of snow that has fallen this season. On Monday, just a trace of snow was on the ground.
After a high temperature of 32 degrees Monday, an arctic air mass will inch its way toward the metro throughout the week and by the weekend make it feel more like January after a balmy start to winter.
“Much colder air moves in by Thursday,” the weather service warned.
The Twin Cities has yet to record a temperature with a negative reading this season, but that is expected to change Saturday when the mercury is forecast to fall to minus 5 degrees, the weather service said.
On Sunday, the readings will struggle to make it make it to 5 above zero in the Twin Cities, the Weather Service said.
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