Twin Cities residents with winter fatigue can breathe a sigh of relief.

An overnight snowstorm was expected to miss most of the metro area, with forecasters on Friday downgrading advisories and the forecast from an expected 6 inches to just a dusting or up to 1 or 2 inches for the southwest suburbs into Saturday.

Meteorologists tracking the storm through North Dakota into Minnesota expected it to hit the Twin Cities around midnight. But the metro area will miss out on the core of the heavy band of snow, which is expected for much of the Minnesota River Valley.

"It's tough to forecast on the edges," said meteorologist Eric Ahasic with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. "You can go from 10 inches to no snow in a span of 20 miles. It can be so localized."

That means cities like Mankato in southern Minnesota fall in the middle of the heavy band of snow and are getting hit hardest, with forecasters expecting the area to get 6 to 8 inches of snowfall or 8 to 10 inches from Austin to Albert Lea. The storm will then move into northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin.

In the Twin Cities, residents may miss out on significant snowfall but could still wake up Saturday to some slick roadways and a cloudy, clear day in the upper 30s. Sunday is expected to usher in a mini heat wave, with temperatures in the 40s.

Then Mother Nature is expected to be early with April showers, dropping rain or freezing rain on the Twin Cities on Monday. That's actually good news, though, for anyone anxious for spring to arrive, helping get rid of any remaining snowpack.

"That will be the first decent rain we've had since fall," Ahasic said. "That will help melt anything on the ground."