Icy conditions wreak havoc in Austin
Published 10:29 am Monday, January 23, 2012
January is back to being itself across Minnesota.
The National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wis., issued a winter weather advisory for southeast Minnesota, northeastern Iowa and western Wisconsin, which was scheduled to end around noon, as of 9 a.m. Monday.
Light, blowing snow may continue into the afternoon before tapering off, according to NWS officials. A low pressure system moving through the area is still bringing several bands of snow from west of Mankato and could drop one to three more inches of snow. However, NWS officials don’t expect road conditions to get much worse than they were as of this morning.
NWS Meteorologist Jeff Boyne said the area received some freezing rain on Sunday, which means snow is hiding patches of ice on some roads.
“So some of those roads that weren’t treated yesterday, there’s a little ice lying underneath them,” Boyne said.
Boyne added the weather system that is moving through the area is the same system that is causing problems, including some tornadoes, in the southwestern U.S.
Poor conditions may clear up after Monday, however. Boyne said weather should remain calm for the rest of the week with temperatures 5 to 10 degrees warmer than usual. There is a possibility of light snow on Sunday.
As of press time, Blooming Prairie, Grand Meadow, Hayfield, Lyle, LeRoy-Ostrander, and Southland schools were closed today, and Austin Public Schools were on time.
