Heavy snow continues north, windy metro and south
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You knew we couldn't go the whole month of March without at least one significant snowstorm in Minnesota.
Snow totals pile up in the north today. Winds and colder air buffet southern Minnesota as an impressive low pressure swirl spins over the Great Lakes.
Weather headlines
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Winter storm warnings continue in northern Minnesota until 7 a.m. Thursday.
High winds continue in metro and southern Minnesota.
Wind advisories up for southern Minnesota including the Interstate 90 corridor cities.
High wind warnings for parts of Iowa and Wisconsin.
Anatomy of a storm
Deep low pressure. Just enough cold air to change rain to snow up north. That's the recipe for heavy wet March snow in northern Minnesota. The low gradually shoves off the the east over the next 48 hours.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NAM 4 km model shows the localized but heavy snowfall totals up north nicely. A few flakes fly near the metro, with no real accumulation.
Winter storm warnings continue today from the Duluth National Weather Service office.
Some 4- to 5-inch totals have already rolled in up north. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour at times today will push totals to over a foot in some areas.
3 NE Lester Park [St. Louis Co, MN] PUBLIC reports SNOW of 4.00 INCH at 6:40 AM CDT --
3 NE Hermantown [St. Louis Co, MN] OFFICIAL NWS OBS reports SNOW of 5.00 INCH at 7:00 AM CDT --
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...HIBBING...DULUTH...SUPERIOR
409 AM CDT WED MAR 16 2016
...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM CDT THURSDAY...
* LOCATIONS...CENTRAL ST. LOUIS COUNTY...INCLUDING HIBBING AND THE IRON RANGE CITIES AND THE HIGHWAY 53 CORRIDOR.
* TIMING...TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. SNOW WILL BE MOST INTENSE DURING THE DAY.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...8 TO 13 INCHES.
* VISIBILITIES...A QUARTER TO HALF MILE IN MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW.
* WINDS...NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH.
* IMPACTS...SNOW WILL COMPACT TO ICE RESULTING IN EXTREMELY SLICK ROAD CONDITIONS. HEAVY WET SNOW WILL ALSO ACCUMULATE ON TREES AND POWER LINES...AND COULD RESULT IN TREE DAMAGE AND POWER OUTAGES.
Five inches and counting near Duluth, and significant rainfall in the central and east metro.
A variety of weather fare covers southern Minnesota and Iowa. Emphasis, wind.
March reality check
Our weather mellows over time, but cooler temps hang around this week.
