The light snow falling across the metro area Friday afternoon caused some wailing and gnashing of teeth.

But the snow had been forecast, and National Weather Service meteorologist Shawn DeVinny did his best to offer some reassurance.

"April snowshowers bring May flowers," he said.

With temperatures at about 41 degrees, precipitation fell into dry air and evaporated, causing the temperature to drop 8 degrees in about an hour between 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and turning the precipitation to snow, De Vinny said. As a result, snow is expected to continue through the rush hour.

Snow is not unusual for the Twin Cities in April. Normal April snowfall is 2.5 inches. The record for the month is 21.8 inchs in 1983; as recently as 2002, 20.2 inches fell.

Snow is expected to continue through the evening with a rainy weekend to follow.

Bill McAuliffe • 612-673-7646