Shovel. Pause. Repeat.
From drizzle to blizzard: Another Minnesota winter weekend roars in
The metro area is sandwiched in a slightly less dire weather zone between blizzard and winter storm warning zones.
February 23, 2019 at 5:21AM
The winter that arrived late and large continued apace as much of south-central Minnesota was placed under a blizzard warning set to begin at 9 p.m. Saturday and extend till 6 p.m. Sunday.
Falling snow, freezing drizzle and gusty winds will create extremely hazardous conditions in a broad swath of Minnesota from Worthington to Marshall to to Willmar to Mankato to Albert Lea and extending northeast to parts of the south metro, including Carver, Scott and Dakota counties, the National Weather Service in Chanhassen warned.
Meanwhile, Goodhue County, along with several counties in western Wisconsin, will be under a winter storm warning.
And the central Twin Cities metro area? It's right smack between the warning zones, labeled with a "hazardous weather outlook," and stands to get anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of new snow by Sunday night.
In the metro, snow and freezing drizzle will fall overnight Friday, with 1-3 inches accumulating by morning, the Weather Service said. Saturday, with a high of 33, will bring more rain, freezing rain and snow, with a bit more ice and snow accumulating through the day. Later Saturday, 3 to 5 more inches of snow could fall in the metro, with winds gusting up to 35 miles per hour blowing it around in impressive fashion.
Sunday in the central metro will be dominated by patchy blowing snow, with blustery northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph, occasionally gusting to 40 mph, creating a below-zero windchill, the Weather Service said. Snow is also possible Monday and Tuesday.
In south-central Minnesota, it's an even more serious weather picture, with more snow and wind than the metro will get.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation warned that driving could deteriorate in many areas late Friday and stay dangerous through the weekend, with slippery roads and low visibility, and urged motorists to refer often to its frequently updated online road reports.
On Friday night, the North Dakota Department of Transportation issued a no-travel advisory for the southeastern part of that state due to blowing snow creating low visibility. Roads were also turning treacherous in parts of western Minnesota, including those around Pelican Rapids, Barnesville, Detroit Lakes and the White Earth Indian Reservation.
Clearly, February, already the snowiest ever recorded in the metro area, is not done with us yet. But in just a week, it'll be March.
And it never snows in March — does it?
Pamela Miller • 612-673-4290
Correction: Previous versions of this article misstated the exact timing for the blizzard warning. It begins Saturday.
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