Come Friday, you just might want to pull the blankets back up over your head and stay in bed. Another snowstorm is aiming to smack the Twin Cities during the morning commute, dumping at least 6 to 14 inches of heavy, wet snow.

The April storm will put another exclamation point on one of the more miserable winters in 50 years.

On the other hand, it gives Minnesotans an "extreme to brag about," said Ross Carlyon, a hydro-meteorologist technician at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. "Whenever people [visit] warm places like Florida, they like to say, 'I'm from Minnesota where it gets cold, and I walk uphill to school, both ways,' " he said, laughing. "Some people love their pain and if you can up the pain, they'll love you more."

So here comes more frozen pain.

A "wintry mix" of rain and snow is expected to fall starting overnight Thursday, but the heavy snow likely will push into the metro about 6 a.m. Friday, said Jacob Beitlich, Weather Service meteorologist.

The heaviest snow likely will fall Thursday night into Friday from New Ulm through the Twin Cities, he said. Snow, which could be paired with thunder, couldfall at the rate of 1-2 inches an hour. Total accumulation is expected to be 6-14 inches.

Normally only about 2½ inches of snow falls in April. This year also featured a dry March, when only 4.7 inches of snow fell instead of the typical 10.3 inches, Carlyon said.

With 62.8 inches of snow so far this season, the Twin Cities already has 10 inches more than normal, for the 19th snowiest on record, he said. And as for the frigid factor — it's the coldest winter since 1965, Carlyon said.

Temperatures are expected to stay below the normal high of 50 through the middle of next week, Beitlich said.

But here's the good news: Warmer weather is on its way with above-normal temperatures expected by the end of next week.

Beitlich is reluctant to raise the hopes of the winter weary but hinted at balmy days to come. "Let's just say it could be in the 50s at the end [of next week]," he said. "And 60s aren't out of the question."

Yay!

Mary Lynn Smith • 612-673-4788