November 4th through 8th is Winter Hazard Awareness Week in MN, as the National Weather Service promotes winter safety, and today the focus is winter storms.
The National Weather Service says a low-pressure system coming out of the Central Plains today will shift across Iowa Wednesday and into the Great Lakes
Wednesday night. Snow will begin to develop late tonight across
southern Minnesota and continue to spread east and northward on
Wednesday before diminishing Wednesday evening.
The latest from the National Weather Service says
this is shaping up to be a historic storm. Please stay off the
roads if possible, especially in southern Minnesota. Several
rounds of very heavy snow will continue through this afternoon
into this evening. Snowfall rates of around 1 to 2 inches per hour
can be expected through the afternoon hours.
Xcel energy is in storm preparation mode. In a release this morning they said they are increasing employees for the weekend in anticipation of heavy snow, ice, and wind that can sometimes cause electrical outages.
The National weather service says that
a significant winter storm is expected Friday afternoon into
Saturday evening and will likely include all precipitation types,
strong winds, and blizzard conditions.