Quick-hitting storm to dump up to a foot of snow in Midwest
By
Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Mar 15, 2021 5:53 PM EST
By the end of March 13, snow was beginning to pile up across much of Colorado, but the storm expected to bring feet of snow in some areas was just beginning.
The same robust winter storm that brought historic, travel-snarling snow to the Rocky Mountains and High Plains will pivot across the Midwest into Monday night, unleashing a burst of heavy snowfall that can disrupt travel across the area.
After bringing feet of snow to areas in Colorado and Wyoming and areas of heavy rain to Kansas and Nebraska and even a few landspouts, the storm has begun to shift to the north and east.
Enough cold air will be over parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa and northern Illinois for precipitation to fall as mainly snow.
The northeastward advance of snow was slowing to a crawl as the storm was running into dry air over the Upper Midwest on Monday afternoon.
This radar image, captured Monday afternoon, March 15, 2021, shows snow in blue, wintry mix in purple and rain in green, yellow and red. (AccuWeather)
"Very difficult travel will result from a burst of heavy snow over part of the Upper Midwest into Monday night," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.
Temperatures were just low enough to allow at least part of the storm to occur as snow in the Chicago area during Monday afternoon. Motorists should be prepared for areas of slush and slippery conditions associate with a coating to an inch or two of wet snow into the evening hours.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
However, those commuting into the far northwest Chicago suburbs, or farther north into southern Wisconsin are likely to face tricker travel conditions with a few inches of slushy snow expected to fall by Monday evening, warned Pydynowski.
As snow pivots into the southern part of the Great Lakes region Monday night, snow on the backside of the storm over the Plains will already be coming to an end.
The quick movement of this storm will help to limit snowfall totals as most areas will only receive snow for 12-24 hours. However, snow can become heavy enough to bring up to a foot of snow to far eastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.
This area will also be the most likely location for the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 18 inches to occur.
Around Minneapolis, snowfall is expected to total 1-3 inches in the city -- but, forecasters caution that 3- to 6-inch snowfall totals may not be too far to the south.
Snowfall totals can climb to 3-6 inches from southern Minnesota and into Wisconsin and Illinois, but temperatures near freezing (32 degrees F) on the southern side of the storm can impact how much snow will fall.
Motorists, especially those traveling on interstates 35 and 90, should be cautious in deteriorating conditions. Heavy snowfall can quickly coat the roads and visibility can be greatly reduced.
The storm will continue to shift east into Monday night, moving the winter precipitation threat from the Midwest to the Northeast. But, a weakening storm and the task of overcoming dry air across the eastern U.S. will limit the amount of wintry precipitation that falls across the region.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
Quick-hitting storm to dump up to a foot of snow in Midwest
By Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Updated Mar 15, 2021 5:53 PM EST
By the end of March 13, snow was beginning to pile up across much of Colorado, but the storm expected to bring feet of snow in some areas was just beginning.
The same robust winter storm that brought historic, travel-snarling snow to the Rocky Mountains and High Plains will pivot across the Midwest into Monday night, unleashing a burst of heavy snowfall that can disrupt travel across the area.
After bringing feet of snow to areas in Colorado and Wyoming and areas of heavy rain to Kansas and Nebraska and even a few landspouts, the storm has begun to shift to the north and east.
Enough cold air will be over parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa and northern Illinois for precipitation to fall as mainly snow.
The northeastward advance of snow was slowing to a crawl as the storm was running into dry air over the Upper Midwest on Monday afternoon.
This radar image, captured Monday afternoon, March 15, 2021, shows snow in blue, wintry mix in purple and rain in green, yellow and red. (AccuWeather)
"Very difficult travel will result from a burst of heavy snow over part of the Upper Midwest into Monday night," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.
Temperatures were just low enough to allow at least part of the storm to occur as snow in the Chicago area during Monday afternoon. Motorists should be prepared for areas of slush and slippery conditions associate with a coating to an inch or two of wet snow into the evening hours.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
However, those commuting into the far northwest Chicago suburbs, or farther north into southern Wisconsin are likely to face tricker travel conditions with a few inches of slushy snow expected to fall by Monday evening, warned Pydynowski.
As snow pivots into the southern part of the Great Lakes region Monday night, snow on the backside of the storm over the Plains will already be coming to an end.
The quick movement of this storm will help to limit snowfall totals as most areas will only receive snow for 12-24 hours. However, snow can become heavy enough to bring up to a foot of snow to far eastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.
This area will also be the most likely location for the AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 18 inches to occur.
Around Minneapolis, snowfall is expected to total 1-3 inches in the city -- but, forecasters caution that 3- to 6-inch snowfall totals may not be too far to the south.
Snowfall totals can climb to 3-6 inches from southern Minnesota and into Wisconsin and Illinois, but temperatures near freezing (32 degrees F) on the southern side of the storm can impact how much snow will fall.
Related:
Motorists, especially those traveling on interstates 35 and 90, should be cautious in deteriorating conditions. Heavy snowfall can quickly coat the roads and visibility can be greatly reduced.
The storm will continue to shift east into Monday night, moving the winter precipitation threat from the Midwest to the Northeast. But, a weakening storm and the task of overcoming dry air across the eastern U.S. will limit the amount of wintry precipitation that falls across the region.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo