Area sees early dose  of winter

The first day of winter isn’t until Dec. 21, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way.

After the brunt of a winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow missed Mower County, southern Minnesota is still in for more winter conditions this week and next week.

Parts of the Twin Cities saw about 14 inches of snow yesterday, and Cambridge saw 16.5 inches on Monday. But the Austin area only received rain, sleet and about 2 inches of snow, along with a few reports of flickering lights and brief outages.

Now, the Austin area and much of Minnesota are in for a week-plus of sub-freezing temperatures that could feel like full-fledged winter a few weeks before Thanksgiving.

Today’s high was forecasted around 27 with blustery 17-22 mph winds. Temperatures were expected to drop to about 13 tonight and wind chill values just below zero.

Don’t expect a quick warm-up and return to autumn weather, as temperatures are expected to stay in the 20s through next Thursday, according to several weather forecasters.