Ugly Weekend For Rochester and All of Southern Minnesota
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Southern Minnesota is headed into another “active” weather weekend.
A winter weather advisory has been issued from Midnight through 9 AM Saturday with forecasters predicting an icy mix of precipitation, including snow, to develop overnight. Untreated surfaces will likely become very slick from a coating of ice and possibly an inch or two of snow.
The temperature is expected to warm into the mid-30s during the day, which forecasters say could result in periods of rain, freezing rain, and snow before the precipitation is expected to switch over to all snow Saturday evening. The National Weather Service says heavy snow is likely and is currently predicting 6 to 10 inches of accumulation in the Rochester area by the time the snow ends on Sunday. At this point, a winter storm watch has been posted from 6 PM Saturday through 6 PM Sunday.
The wind is also forecast to increase Saturday night. The National Weather Service says the northwest winds could gust as high as 40 miles per hour Saturday night and reach the mid-40s on Sunday and Sunday night. The combination of ice, snow, and wind will likely produce very difficult driving conditions during much of the weekend.
Conditions are expected to be worse in areas to the west. A blizzard warning has been posted from Saturday evening through Sunday afternoon for areas of southern Minnesota mainly west of I-35. Albert Lea and Owatonna are included.