The forecast is calling for a up to a foot of heavy, wet snow on Wednesday for parts of Minnesota, sending a shudder for all of those who have already swapped their down for spring jackets.
Like it or not, this is spring — Minnesota style. Crocus and daffodil blooms might not fare so well under a blanket of sodden snow, but most trees, shrubs and other plants that are poking up and popping out should live for another spring day. And so will hardy Minnesotans.
Southern Minnesota and south central Wisconsin likely will get several inches to up to a foot of snow, said Andy Lahr, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. South metro residents also might be digging out from the spring snowstorm, he said, although he cautioned that it's still too early to tell where the cutoff will be between those who will have to shovel and those who won't.
"We're not out of the woods yet" in the Twin Cities, Lahr said.
Mind you, Minnesota, averages 10.3 inches of snow for March. So far, we've had just 1.7 inches, Lahr said. So, Wednesday's storm could bring parts of Minnesota to normal. Lucky them.
The snow likely will start on Wednesday, late morning to early afternoon, Lahr said. It will intensify through the afternoon and into the night, tapering by early Thursday morning, he said. "As of now, we're still a couple days out so even a slight shift in the track [of the storm] could cause huge differences in the amounts, especially in the Twin Cities," Lahr said.
Temperatures will be in the mid-30s as the storm begins and then likely will dip to the mid-20s, he said. As the storm pulls away, temperatures will creep to the mid-30s on Thursday and get into the 40s by Friday, making some of that new fallen snow a memory.
Once it's gone, trees, shrubs and plants will take another run at a spring entrance. The unusually warm winter had some trees and plants emerging early from their hiatus weeks earlier than normal, said Kathy Zuzek, an educator in horticulture at the University of Minnesota Extension.
