Snow Heading to Plains, Midwest

A powerful winter storm system that could leave a dozen inches of snow behind has been forecast for Nebraska and portions of adjacent states.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for most of Nebraska, southeast Wyoming, northeast Colorado, northwest Kansas and western Iowa. A blizzard warning has been issued for several counties in west-central Nebraska, starting Friday afternoon.

The service says the storm is expected to move into Nebraska late Thursday night and last into Saturday.

Another Winter Storm Hits The Midwest

Another winter storm system blanketed most of the Plains and Upper Midwest with snow and ice, with most of the snowfall in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Hundreds of flights were canceled Sunday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, officials said.

School systems that weren't closed for Presidents Day (Monday) were closed because of the storm.

Interstates looked like ice rinks and officials warned people to stay put as winds whipped the snow and reduced visibility. The snow began falling Sunday morning and continued until past midnight into Monday, a federal holiday.

In downtown Minneapolis, inline skating events at the Metrodome was canceled Sunday because of travel conditions and heating applied to the roof to melt snow created uncomfortably warm conditions for skating, an official said.

Up to a foot of snow fell in South Dakota and around 10 inches in southwest North Dakota, weather officials said. Portions of Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin were plagued by rain and ice glazing the highways and making travel treacherous. The icy mix was expected to push north and east Monday across southern Michigan, northern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania, AccuWeather.com said.

Areas north of Chicago were expecting accumulating sleet and rain before it changed over to just rain, forecasters said.

The expected big snow failed to materialize in the Milwaukee area, which had more rain, sleet and freezing rain, making driving conditions sketchy, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Snow, freezing rain, sleet, and ice were expected to affect the central and northern part of Wisconsin Monday as well.

Midwest Expecting Lots of Snow

If you are in the Midwestern part of the United States, you are currently experiencing the calm before the storm.  Heavy snow is expected throughout the Midwest this week.  And it will keep coming and coming.

The first of the snow is expected to arrive afternoon in the way of about a half an inch, according to the National Weather Service. Today’s high will be 25 degrees.

The snow is expected to continue tonight with overnight accumulations of 2 inches.

More snow is expected Tuesday with accumulation of around 4 inches.

Then the bulk of the storm will hit with about 9 inches of accumulation expected Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. We could see snow accumulation rates of 2 inches an hour. On top of the snow, expect some areas of blowing snow with  wind chill values as low as -10 degrees. A winter storm watch will be in effect from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon.

Blowing and drifting snow is expected on Wednesday. Then the temperatures plunge with Wednesday night low will be -9 degrees .



Midwest Digging out After Winter Storm

Close to two feet of snow in some areas, roads closed, flights at airports delayed.

Such is life in the nation's heartland during the winter months.

Snow Storm Hits Minnesota and Wisconsin

The Upper Midwest dug out from a heavy snowfall Saturday that caused more than 400 traffic accidents in Minnesota, and wintry conditions also were being blamed for a collision in northern Wisconsin that killed two people.

Nearly a foot of snow had fallen in parts of the Twin Cities area by Saturday evening, downing trees and causing sporadic power outages.

The storm that began late Friday night was blamed for a collision Saturday morning that killed both drivers and left a passenger hospitalized. The sheriff's department in Wisconsin's Bayfield County said the storm produced "rapidly deteriorating road conditions" that likely contributed to the crash.

The Minnesota State Patrol responded to 401 crashes as of 4 p.m, with 45 of them involving minor injuries, Patrol Capt. Matt Langer said. There were no other immediate reports of fatalities or major injuries.

The storm dumped 11 inches of snow in parts of Eden Prairie, Minn., and 10 inches in the Forest Lake and Mankato areas, said Todd Krause, a federal meteorologist in Minneapolis. The major snowfall activity ended by early afternoon, and Sunday's forecast looked milder, he said.

"People will still see snowflakes across much of Minnesota (on Sunday) but it won't be adding up to anything," he said.

The snow in both states wasn't expected to stick around for long. Recent warm weather meant the ground is still relatively warm, meteorologists said, and temperatures are expected to be in the mid- to high 30s for the next few days.  Such is weather in the Midwest.