Snowstorm

Jim Paine has issued a statement on the snowplow plan.

Don't let this happen to you when helping someone this winter.

You just endured - survived - enjoyed the snowiest winter since accurate weather records were first started in Duluth back in 1885. Today will bring high winds, serious icing and a changeover back to snow, with heaviest accumulation north and west of the Twin Ports.

Our wintry occupation shows signs of fading away by the weekend with a streak of 50s early next week, even a slight chance of tasting 60 degrees! Big weather changes are on the way - finally.

Lighter snow is expected to end this week, but things could get really interesting for the first week of April.

Another foot of snow and the Twin Ports will officially be enjoying the 5th snowiest winter on record. We will get closer to that mark today and Friday, with another 4-8" for most of us - a potential for a foot of snow for portions of the Northland.

It's already the 9th snowiest winter on record for the Twin Ports, and more snow is on the way for Thursday and Friday - probably plowable, not crippling, but the snow just keeps piling up in the Northland.

We are only 2 feet away from a Top 5 Winter for snowfall in the Twin Ports, and at the rate we're going we may just meet that target. More plowable snow is coming, especially Sunday

Comparisons to the Halloween Blizzard of '91 were, in retrospect, a bad idea, but even though there wasn't a broad area of 2-foot-plus snows, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 square miles picked up a foot or more of snow.

Minnesotans are accustomed to snowstorms of every shape and flavor. Plowable snow? Ho-hum. But the storm brewing for Wednesday and Thursday may be a rare "crippling" storm capable of shutting down a wide swath of both Minnesota and Wisconsin.

On a scale of 1-5, the storm later this week will be a "Category 4", capable of near-blizzard conditions and even coastal flooding and beach erosion on Lake Superior, due to sustained winds of 30-50 mph for 1-2 days. The heaviest snows will stay south, but more plowable snow is on the way.

Residents of Minnesota and Wisconsin are used to snow falling in the winter. It's no big deal. But this won't be an ordinary storm set-up. Cold temperatures and a long-duration snowfall may spark near blizzard conditions by Thursday, and a big swath of the region may pick up 1-2 FEET of snow by Friday morning. Expect major travel disruptions as the week goes on.