Weather Service Declares Winter Storm Warning for Metro

(Updated 8:14 a.m. April 9 to show that the National Weather Service had upgraded the winter storm watch to a winter storm warning.)

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The Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service on Tuesday declared a winter storm warning for much of west central and central Minnesota, including Hennepin and Anoka counties.

A winter storm warning means “significant amounts of snow, sleet are ice are expected or occuring.” The warning is in effect until 1 p.m. Thursday

Some parts of the west central Minnesota could see six to 12 inches of snow fall between Tuesday morning and Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

In the west metro, the forecast calls for rain until Tuesday night, when ice will start accumulating. One to two inches of snow is expected to fall during the day Wednesday, and there could be two to four more inches of snow during the night. Snow is likely Thursday, too.

The full winter storm warning is as follows:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 452 AM CDT TUE APR 9 2013 ...A LATE SEASON WINTER STORM TO IMPACT THE AREA TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY... .A SINGLE STORM SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE SEVERAL ROUNDS OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION FROM LATER THIS MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA FROM EARLY TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY. SLEET OR RAIN WILL ALSO MIX IN AT TIMES THROUGH THURSDAY. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FARTHER EAST INTO THE TWIN CITIES AND WESTERN WISCONSIN WILL DEPEND ON HOW QUICKLY A WINTRY MIX CAN CHANGE TO ALL SNOW LATE WEDNESDAY. PRECIPITATION WILL QUICKLY SPREAD INTO MINNESOTA THIS MORNING. SUB FREEZING SURFACE TEMPERATURE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA WILL ALLOW FOR A SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN MIX THIS MORNING...THAT WILL TRANSITION TO SNOW BY THE AFTERNOON. THE SLEET AND RAIN MIX WILL SLOWLY MOVE TOWARD THE TWIN CITIES METRO THIS AFTERNOON...BEFORE QUICKLY SPREADING ACROSS EASTERN MINNESOTA AND WESTERN WISCONSIN TONIGHT. THE TRANSITION TO SNOW WILL SLOWLY SPREAD EAST ON WEDNESDAY...WITH EASTERN MINNESOTA TRANSITIONING TO SNOW WEDNESDAY EVENING. WESTERN WISCONSIN WILL SEE A TRANSITION TO SNOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT. FINAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL DEPEND ON HOW QUICKLY THE TRANSITION TO SNOW OCCURS. MNZ051>053-059>063-066>070-091800- /O.UPG.KMPX.WS.A.0008.130410T0000Z-130411T1800Z/ /O.EXB.KMPX.WS.W.0007.130410T0000Z-130411T1800Z/ SHERBURNE-ISANTI-CHISAGO-WRIGHT-HENNEPIN-ANOKA-RAMSEY-WASHINGTON- MCLEOD-SIBLEY-CARVER-SCOTT-DAKOTA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ELK RIVER...CAMBRIDGE...CENTER CITY... MONTICELLO...MINNEAPOLIS...BLAINE...ST. PAUL...STILLWATER... HUTCHINSON...GAYLORD...CHASKA...SHAKOPEE...BURNSVILLE 452 AM CDT TUE APR 9 2013 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM CDT THURSDAY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR A MIX SLEET...FREEZING RAIN...AND HEAVY SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 PM CDT THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * TIMING: RAIN WILL TRANSITION TO A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION THIS EVENING AND CHANGE OVER TO SNOW LATE WEDNESDAY. SNOW WILL SLOWLY TAPER OFF THURSDAY MORNING. * MAIN IMPACT: SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 INCHES OR GREATER... MAINLY BETWEEN WEDNESDAY EVENING AND MID DAY THURSDAY. * OTHER IMPACTS: ICE ACCUMULATIONS UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH DUE TO SLEET AND LIGHT FREEZING RAIN TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW...SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.