Storm heading this way could drop 2-6" on metro area

Home
Local

Storm heading this way could drop 2-6" on metro area

Article by: HERÓN MÁRQUEZ ESTRADA , Star Tribune
Updated: February 27, 2012 - 11:15 AM

Forecasts range from as little as a few inches in the south metro area to up to a foot in the northern Twin Cities suburbs.

35
comments
resize text
print
buy reprints

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

A heavy dose of snow is coming to central Minnesota Tuesday and Wednesday, but forecasters were not sure Monday if the storm will pack a punch that's more Mike Tyson or Chuck Wepner.

Still, the snowfall to come is likely to be the heaviest snow we've seen all winter, according to the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

Areas north of the Twin Cities will definitely get dumped on, but the storm's southern edge might shift, so it's hard to predict exactly how much snow we'll get here, said Jim Taggart, a meteorologist with the Weather Service. "There's still a possibility that the heaviest bands of snow could shift further north or further south," he said.

Star Tribune meteorologist Paul Douglas seconded Taggart's caution about the unpredictability of the storm track. Douglas said Monday that the storm could bring mostly rain and sleet in the Twin Cities area, turning to 2-6" of snow, while central Minnesota could get more than a foot by midday Wednesday.

The complicating part of the forecast is how much precipitation will fall as rain versus snow on Tuesday night.

For up-north Minnesotans, the storm to come will be the second of the week. On Sunday, more than a foot of snow fell around Duluth and in other parts of northern Minnesota.

The North Shore of Lake Superior around the Two Harbors and Silver Bay area had about 10 inches of new snow.

No deaths or road closures associated with the storm were reported as of late Sunday.

The midweek storm is likely to produce a sloppy mix of snow and sleet south of the Twin Cities, Taggart said.

In the metro area, the heaviest snow is expected to hit Tuesday afternoon and into Wednesday. Temperatures during that time are expected to be in the high 20s to low 30s, about normal for this time of year, Taggart said.

Forecaster Paul Douglas said he expects the midweek storm will be a "plowable" amount of snow that is "potentially crippling" just northwest of the Twin Cities.

Heron Marquez • 952-746-3281

related content
Sunday’s snowfall resulted in the rollover of a U-Haul truck along Interstate 29 near Argusville, N.D. In an almost snow-free season, this week’s snow is likely to be the heaviest so far for the Twin Cities.

Carrie Snyder, Fargo Forum via Associated Press
Snowpocalypse 2012? (still on track for biggest snowfall of winter)

Sunday February 26, 2012

It's going to snow - of that I have little doubt. Now the burning question is: a mere 6" of slush, or over a foot of traffic-snarling, airport-delaying, field-rejuvenating, trail-smothering...
Twin Cities forecasts

Thursday January 5, 2012