A brisk storm that dumped up to a foot of snow snarled traffic and closed schools Monday in and around the Austin area.

Austin Police Chief Paul Philipp couldn't ignore the incongruity of the situation.

"No one ever thought we would have a major winter snowstorm when we declared Severe Weather Awareness Week," Philipp said.

Today is the first day of the annual Severe Weather Awareness Week effort. However, it is usually implemented to warn Minnesotans of the tornado and thunderstorm season ahead; not for blizzard-like conditions.

The Mower County Highway Department's employees attacked the storm full-force today, as those workers have 405 miles of roadway to maintain and did it with eight snowplows at once.

Meanwhile, the city of Austin's street department also charged forward into the storm, clearing 105 miles of streets and alleys.

The department put 10 dump trucks into service, plus three motor graders, four loaders and an alley truck.

This morning, Jon Erichson, the city engineer and director of public works, was still deciding whether or not to declare a snow emergency over the next 72 hours.

With a prompt warm-up expected, the snow emergency may not be needed. Erichson said he hoped the department's resources could get into the residential neighborhoods later today to clear both sides of the streets.

If that happens, a snow emergency would not be needed. If it is declared, Philipp said officers would be "tagging and towing" improperly parked vehicles until the emergency is lifted and the odd-even day parking restriction is canceled.

Weather watchers noted the storm wasn't large, but big enough to hit south central Minnesota.

"It's a big, big system, but it's a narrow one, maybe a 75-mile band of snow north and south," Ross Carlyon, weather service specialist at the National Weather Service station in Minneapolis, said. "It just lifted out of Iowa, and it sounds like it's been going ever since."

West to east, he said the system extended from central South Dakota all the way to Illinois.

There have been reports from Austin of anywhere from 9 inches to one foot of snow. For the rest of the day, Carlyon said to expect occasional snow and possibly an additional 2 to 4 inches by 4 p.m. After that, the system should taper off by 10 p.m. with another inch of snow.

Carlyon said storms like this aren't unheard of.

"Usually in the first couple weeks of April, we're in that sort of danger zone for getting that last punch from winter," he said. "It comes along in cycles. About every 10 years we get a nice, big winter event in April."

However, Carlyon said it probably won't last long.

"By Wednesday you'll be saying, 'Life is great,'" he said.

At 9 a.m. this morning, with heavy snow, a temperature of 27 degrees and 17 mph winds gusting to 29 mph, traffic conditions were deemed "difficult" according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Oversized vehicle permits in Mower and surrounding counties were closed.

Schools in Austin were initially slated to run two hours late, but officials decided to close them around 7:45 a.m. Other school districts that canceled classes for Monday included St. Ansgar, Lyle, Southland, Hayfield, Brownsdale and LeRoy-Ostrander. The Riverland Community College campuses in Austin, Albert Lea and Owatonna also closed for the day.

Blooming Prairie and Grand Meadow school districts also were slated to start two hours late early Monday.

Mary Lau and Pam Reistad with the Austin City Employees Credit Union were out Monday morning, braving the brisk winds while trying to shovel away the thick, wet snow from their sidewalk and a portion of an adjacent driveway.

"It's so heavy," Reistad said. "It's like being an ant trying to move something uphill."

Brian Dolan, with Dolan's Landscape and Spas in Austin, was plowing driveways along with 10 others at his business.

Dolan said he and his crew started at 4 a.m. today and were fairly prepared for the late-season storm that blew in late Sunday -- even though their original plans for today got shelved.

"We were actually set to plant trees and landscape this morning," Dolan said. "But this is typical for Minnesota. This is one of those late April ones."

The percussion ensemble concert scheduled for tonight at Austin High School's Knowlton Auditorium has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday. The Austin High School baseball game against Waseca has been cancelled, along with the boys golf team's match against Fairmont has been cancelled.

Also, the Austin Page Turners lecture and book signing, featuring Tim O'Brien, has been moved from Riverland Community College to the Austin Public Library. The event will take place at 7 p.m. tonight.