Travel delays mount as snow sweeps through Upper Midwest Sunday
By
Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist &
Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Feb 7, 2020 6:14 PM EDT
AccuWeather's Dexter Henry and Daji Aswad fill you in on what the polar vortex is, and why it hasn't been too big a problem recently.
Winter is not ready to give up just yet, as a storm cruises across the northern tier of the central United States through Sunday.
Rounds of accumulating snow began in the Rockies at the start of the weekend before spreading through the northern Plains and into the Great Lakes for the second half of the weekend.
Residents in southern Minnesota awoke to a blanket of fresh snow on Sunday morning.
Conditions were just right that thundersnow was reported along the Interstate-90 corridor of Minnesota.
Police in the city of Plymouth, a suburb west of Minneapolis, reminded residents of the ongoing snow emergency on Sunday morning, and advised that travelers take it very slow on the roads.
The above photo shows I-90 in southwestern Minnesota, near the South Dakota border on Sunday morning (Photo/511MN).
Minnesota's Department of Transportation showed that roads in almost the entire southern half of the state were covered in snow, including parts of I-90 near Beaver Creek.
Snow partially covered roadways across northern Iowa as well early on Sunday.
Purple and pink lines in the above map show snow-covered roadways across southern Minnesota at 8 a.m. CST (Photo/511MN).
According to Flight Aware, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was experiencing an average of 30-minute delays due to snow and ice on Sunday morning.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport reported over 300 flight cancellations as of 10 a.m. CDT on Sunday.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
A strong west-to-east oriented jet stream has kept the storm moving at a swift pace. This fast movement will prevent the storm from accumulating more than a foot in most places.
"The swath of heavy snow will continue through Wisconsin and into western parts of Lower Michigan through Sunday," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.
Although most in the region can expect 6-12 inches of snow, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™️ of 15 inches is expected.
With the lingering cold in the region, snow is likely to accumulate not just on grassy surfaces, but also on roadways.
Roads may initially be wet as a result of marginal temperatures across the Great Lakes, but they could turn slushy and snowcovered rather quickly as snowfall rates during the onset of precipitation could be quite impressive.
Around the Great Lakes, some rain may also mix in where temperatures will be just above the freezing mark late Sunday afternoon.
Such a scenario may be possible for the Chicago area, which can expect 1-3 inches of snow before the end of the storm.
Into Sunday night, cities such as Billings, Montana; Rapid City, Pierre and Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Minneapolis and Rochester, Minnesota; Eau Claire, Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Lansing and Flint, Michigan; can expect accumulating snow from the storm.
Chicago and Detroit are likely to be on the southern edge of the accumulating snow from the storm this weekend. However, heavy snow during the onset of precipitation could cause the snow to stick for a time before snow mixes in with rain later in the day.
All or mostly rain is forecast to fall over the middle Mississippi and Ohio valleys through Sunday.
As the system continues to move along, it will spread snow over the northern tier of the Northeast into Monday.
Meanwhile, drier conditions look to return to the Upper Midwest early this week, but more snow chances are upcoming for the northern tier of the U.S. though mid-February.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
Travel delays mount as snow sweeps through Upper Midwest Sunday
By Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist & Courtney Travis, AccuWeather senior meteorologist
Published Feb 7, 2020 6:14 PM EDT
AccuWeather's Dexter Henry and Daji Aswad fill you in on what the polar vortex is, and why it hasn't been too big a problem recently.
Winter is not ready to give up just yet, as a storm cruises across the northern tier of the central United States through Sunday.
Rounds of accumulating snow began in the Rockies at the start of the weekend before spreading through the northern Plains and into the Great Lakes for the second half of the weekend.
Residents in southern Minnesota awoke to a blanket of fresh snow on Sunday morning.
Conditions were just right that thundersnow was reported along the Interstate-90 corridor of Minnesota.
Police in the city of Plymouth, a suburb west of Minneapolis, reminded residents of the ongoing snow emergency on Sunday morning, and advised that travelers take it very slow on the roads.
The above photo shows I-90 in southwestern Minnesota, near the South Dakota border on Sunday morning (Photo/511MN).
Minnesota's Department of Transportation showed that roads in almost the entire southern half of the state were covered in snow, including parts of I-90 near Beaver Creek.
Snow partially covered roadways across northern Iowa as well early on Sunday.
Purple and pink lines in the above map show snow-covered roadways across southern Minnesota at 8 a.m. CST (Photo/511MN).
According to Flight Aware, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was experiencing an average of 30-minute delays due to snow and ice on Sunday morning.
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport reported over 300 flight cancellations as of 10 a.m. CDT on Sunday.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
A strong west-to-east oriented jet stream has kept the storm moving at a swift pace. This fast movement will prevent the storm from accumulating more than a foot in most places.
"The swath of heavy snow will continue through Wisconsin and into western parts of Lower Michigan through Sunday," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham.
Although most in the region can expect 6-12 inches of snow, an AccuWeather Local StormMax™️ of 15 inches is expected.
With the lingering cold in the region, snow is likely to accumulate not just on grassy surfaces, but also on roadways.
Roads may initially be wet as a result of marginal temperatures across the Great Lakes, but they could turn slushy and snowcovered rather quickly as snowfall rates during the onset of precipitation could be quite impressive.
Around the Great Lakes, some rain may also mix in where temperatures will be just above the freezing mark late Sunday afternoon.
Such a scenario may be possible for the Chicago area, which can expect 1-3 inches of snow before the end of the storm.
Related:
Into Sunday night, cities such as Billings, Montana; Rapid City, Pierre and Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Minneapolis and Rochester, Minnesota; Eau Claire, Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Grand Rapids, Lansing and Flint, Michigan; can expect accumulating snow from the storm.
Chicago and Detroit are likely to be on the southern edge of the accumulating snow from the storm this weekend. However, heavy snow during the onset of precipitation could cause the snow to stick for a time before snow mixes in with rain later in the day.
All or mostly rain is forecast to fall over the middle Mississippi and Ohio valleys through Sunday.
As the system continues to move along, it will spread snow over the northern tier of the Northeast into Monday.
Meanwhile, drier conditions look to return to the Upper Midwest early this week, but more snow chances are upcoming for the northern tier of the U.S. though mid-February.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo