Ready or not, here it comes.
Winter will be here Monday with the arrival of the first snowstorm of the season followed by lower than average temperatures.
By the time the storm draws to a close midday Tuesday, the metro could be covered in 8 to 10 inches of snow.
"There's a very strong likelihood there will be snow on the ground by the morning commute Monday," said Joe Calderone, senior forecaster at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.
After a windy weekend of sunny skies and temperatures in the 40s, the Twin Cities should start seeing snow after midnight Sunday. The heaviest of the snow will occur Monday morning through Monday afternoon.
Commuters should prepare for slick roads and allow extra travel time for both morning and evening rush hours, forecasters said. The snowfall will slowly taper off Monday night into Tuesday morning.
Minnesotans spent the weekend bracing for the season's first wintry weather with trips to their neighborhood hardware stores to buy both lawn bags and snowblowers.
"It's Minnesota, so there's always two seasons happening at one time," said David Lansing, assistant manager at Frattallone's Ace Hardware in Burnsville. "After last year's hard winter, people don't seem to be messing around this year. We're selling a few shovels here and there, but they're mostly going right for the snowblowers."
