Winter Weather Advisory Issued for Most of Southern Minnesota

Undated (KROC-AM News)- The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for most of southern Minnesota. 

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The advisory went into effect Thursday morning and is set to expire at 7 a.m. Friday. Thursday morning’s forecast is calling for widespread accumulations ranging from 1-4 inches of snow for the southern third of the state.

The system is expected to begin by producing rain and a wintery mix before switching over to snowfall. The switch to snow is predicted to occur late Thursday morning for southwestern Minnesota communities and by Thursday afternoon for communities in the south-central and southeastern part of the state.  

Officials say snowfall rates as heavy as 1 inch per hour coupled with 40-50 mph wind gusts could reduce visibility and make travel across the region difficult Thursday into Friday morning.  Accumulations of 3-4 inches of snow by Friday morning are expected for the Twin Cities area, which is also included in the advisory. 

The advisory does not include Olmsted and surrounding counties in southeast Minnesota, however snow is still expected for the southeastern corner of the state. Rochester is predicted to pick up 1-2 inches of snow and wind gusts are forecasted to range between 35 and 45 mph.