Spring officially begins at 10:06 p.m. Tuesday, but it's going to look and feel a lot more like winter as temperatures fall, windchills return and two rounds of snow are in the forecast.

Strong winds out of the northwest will usher in cold air dropping the mercury from a high of 48 degrees Tuesday into the teens by nightfall. The breezy conditions will make it feel close to zero or slightly below, the National Weather Service said.

After a sunny, quiet and cool Wednesday, the Twin Cities and a broad swath of central and southern Minnesota are in line for a proverbial tournament snowstorm that will bring 3 to 5 inches of snow from Thursday night to Friday morning. The snowfall comes as the Minnesota State High School Boys' Basketball Tournament takes place at Target Center and Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota.

Another storm will take a swipe at Minnesota over the weekend. While the Weather Service has not specifically pinned down how much snow will fall or where, a system will impact much of the Upper Midwest Saturday night into Monday morning, said Joe Calderone, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

"Most of the area will see snow if not a wintery mix," Calderone said. Right now, "we are saying the storm will produce accumulating snow that will be plowable. Keep an eye on things."

The storms will come after the warmest winter on record in the metro area and a dearth of snow. As of Tuesday, the metro area had only picked up 14.3 inches of snow for the season. That is almost certain to rise.

"We have been incredibly lucky as far as the actual season of winter went," Calderone said. "But in Minnesota, March, April and May can produce a winter storm."

Behind the storm, temperatures are expected to run slightly below average through April 1, according to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center.

The average high in the Twin Cities for the last week of March ranges between 35 and 40 degrees, according to the Minnesota Climatology Office.