A glancing blow of snow

An Alberta clipper diving out of South Dakota toward Iowa will take a swipe at Minnesota on the way today.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been posted for southwestern Minnesota this morning and into the afternoon. The area south of a line from Madison to Albert Lea should pick up 3 inches to as much as 6 inches of snow today. Cities in the advisory include Marshall, Worthington, Redwood Falls, Granite Falls, St. James and Mankato. Snow will taper off and driving conditions should improve this afternoon.

The metro area will be on the northern fringe of this clipper. At this time it appears that most of the metro including Minneapolis and St. Paul will get light snow amounting to around an inch or less while the southwestern suburbs could see 1 to 2 inches. National Weather Service radar lets you check the changing pattern.

The storm is expected to intensify as it crosses Iowa, so a winter storm warning has been posted for much of Iowa where snowfalls of 5 to 8 inches are likely. Des Moines will be in the middle of it all.

Southern states, after getting hit by another winter storm yesterday, are getting yet another one today.

Winter storm warnings for snow and freezing/frozen precipitation have been posted from northeastern Texas to North Carolina and Virginia, including such vulnerable southern cities as Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta. In Arkansas, the heaviest snow will remain south of Little Rock.

In Georgia, the heaviest snow will fall on the northern part of the state, especially in the mountains, but Atlanta is likely to get enough by this evening to cause traffic snarls.

The heaviest precipitation over the next 24 hours will fall as rain in the warmer air south of the snow.

In our area, the Canadian air has settled in, so temperatures will remain on the decidedly chilly side through Friday. Highs today will be in the single digits north and teens in the south, with the metro area warming only to the mid teens.

By Friday, cold Canadian air will cover most of the middle of the country all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico and east to the Atlantic. The Florida Panhandle should expect highs just in the 50s.

Our temperatures should recover a bit, although still colder than normal, Saturday through Tuesday before the next strong cold front with cold air packed behind it appears to the northwest.

After that next chunk of Canadian air arrives, expect a few very chilly days beginning next Wednesday, even if the calendar will read March 4.