Twin Cities could get heaviest snowfall of the winter on Sunday

Just when you thought you could put away your snow shovel, we could get walloped.

That's the prediction of the local office of the National Weather Service, which says that the Twin Cities is forecast to get 3 to 5 inches of snow, beginning Sunday afternoon and continuing into the early morning hours on Monday.The heaviest snow is likely to fall on the west side of the Twin Cities.

"We have a bull's-eye right over the metro area right now," Andy Lahr, a meteorologist at the Weather Service, said Saturday. He added the caveat that we all have come to love and appreciate: "That could always change in the next 30 hours."

But if the predictions hold up, this could be the Twin Cities' biggest snowfall in what has been a decidedly anemic winter. The largest snowfall was 4.2 inches on Dec. 26 and 27 (3.4 inches on the 26th alone) and altogether, we have seen only 27.2 inches all winter, the smallest amount since 2011-2012 when we totaled a paltry 22.3 inches.

In a normal winter, the metro area would see a total accumulation of more than 40 inches, Lahr said.

The heaviest snow Sunday is forecast for the afternoon and evening, and it will be a heavy, wet snow. "It's going to be a lot more difficult to shovel than the powder we've gotten for most of the winter," Lahr said.

The snow should end early Monday no later than 6 a.m., so drivers may face slippery roads but with no additional accumulation for the morning commute, he said.

The forecast drew skeptical responses from people who make at least part of their living from winter.

"I'll have to see the snow first," said Randy Muse, a clerk at Welna II Ace Hardware on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis. The store has put away its shovels, gloves, hats and salt, but if anyone wants any of it, he said, staff will haul it out of the basement.

A big wintry snowstorm will have a "fairly minimal" impact on sales at Finn Sisu, which sells Nordic skis in Lauderdale, said clerk Greg Weier."People have pretty much forgotten about the ski season and have moved on to their biking and hiking. The general public has switched gears."

Afton Alps ski area in Hastings had already announced its closing day would be Sunday "and that is currently still the plan," said Amy Reents, marketing manager.

Might they reconsider in light of the forecast? "We will see," said Reents, another Minnesota skeptic. "We have had many predictions of snow this season that have not panned out."

Besides, she said, "Heavy wet snow is not very good for skiing."